79 new cases, vaccines opened up to kids

VICTORIA has recorded seventy-nine new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, sixty of which could have been infectious in the community.

Health Minister Martin Foley on Friday confirmed 19 of the cases were self-isolating throughout their entire infectious period.

“With interviews still going on with quite a range of others, we would expect that number to grow over the course of the day,” he told reporters.

Fifty-three of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks, with the source of the remaining 26 under investigation.

COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said 46 cases, about 60 per cent of the state’s daily tally, are based in Melbourne’s western suburbs, including 12 in Wyndham and 11 in Newport.

“It’s a significant area of concern,” he said, urging those who have visited an exposure site in the area, or who have symptoms to get tested.

Mr Foley said the western suburbs is “disproportionately a community that is full of essential workers”.

Meanwhile, 10 of the new cases are also linked to an outbreak in the regional town of Shepparton, including an aged care worker.

The fully vaccinated woman works at Wharparilla Lodge, a 92-bed residential aged care facility in Echuca, about 70 kilometres from Shepparton.

She last worked on 20 August.

The facility has been locked down and a response is underway.

“Given the person involved had been fully vaccinated, and had PPE equipment on, was doing all the right things, given the high levels of vaccination of residents in the facility, we hope that the response will indicate one case and one case only,” Mr Foley said.

About 16,000 residents in the Shepparton region, which has a population of 65,000, are believed to be self-isolating, forcing the closure of food distributors, supermarkets and pharmacies due to staff shortages.

Mr Weimar said 500 people connected to the Orrvale Primary School will soon be released from quarantine, after it was downgraded from a tier-one exposure site to tier-two.

He said the public health team was reviewing other exposure sites and would keep the community updated.

The state’s sixth lockdown is scheduled to end on 2 September, but with a high number of mystery cases and people infectious in the community, it is expected to be extended.

“We will make all of those decisions based on the most up-to-date advice and at the moment, with another six days to go, it is too early to make that call,” Mr Foley said.

There are 660 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria, 37 of which are in hospital, including 14 in intensive care, nine of whom are on a ventilator to breathe.

Vaccine rollout to expand to include more young people

Bookings to vaccinate children aged 12 to 15 for COVID-19 will open on 13 September.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday, ahead of a national cabinet meeting, formal advice had been received on child vaccination.

“Principally I would see that happening, especially through the GP network and that provides the opportunity for family vaccinations – for the family to get together across those age groups,” Mr Morrison said.

The Federal Government’s decision will be briefed to state and territory leaders at the national cabinet meeting.

The leaders will also discuss the ability of the public health system to deal with pandemic pressures, including how to deal with health personnel having to isolate.

The prime minister has become increasingly adamant vaccine coverage targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent must trigger new phases of eased restrictions regardless of case numbers.

Updated Doherty Institute modelling showing it as safe to open up at those thresholds even if there are high case numbers will be presented to national cabinet.

A high quality testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine (TTIQ) system is considered crucial in keeping death rates to a minimum when cases rise under less restrictions.

But research from left-leaning think tank The Australia Institute warns those health regimes could be overrun if cases numbers are allowed to keep rising.

Australia recorded more than 1100 cases including 1029 in NSW on Thursday, while Victoria reported another 79 new local coronavirus infections on Friday.

Australia Institute chief economist Richard Denniss said the size of the NSW outbreak and rise in mystery cases made it unrealistic to assume TTIQ would hold up regardless of infection rates.

“The Doherty Modelling that the prime minister is relying on is literally built on the assumption that our TTIQ system is functioning well,” he said.

“While we hear a lot about the rollout of the vaccines, the Doherty Modelling makes clear that without a highly functioning TTIQ system we have no chance of stopping our country’s ICUs from being overwhelmed.”

– BY AAP