MORE than seven-hundred COVID-19 tests have been recorded across the Loddon Mallee region, with no new positive cases recorded since yesterday\u2019s announcement of exposure sites.<\/p>\n
CEO of Bendigo Health Peter Faulkner said the clinic screened 440 tests yesterday and provided additional resources to help conduct more than 260 tests in Cohuna.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve received no advice of any positive results from those tests but there will be a number of tests pending,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will maintain those resources, there\u2019s obviously a high interest in being tested, which is the right thing to do, so we\u2019ll make those resources available.\u201d<\/p>\n
Testing hours at the Bendigo Health screening clinic have been extended to 6.30pm.<\/p>\n
As part of the state\u2019s snap seven-day lockdown, elective surgery has been put on hold, which Mr Faulkner described as an \u201cappropriate and necessary\u201d step.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis enables us to keep our community safe by not bringing people unnecessarily into a high-risk environment,\u201d he said. \u201cSecondly, it also enables us to deploy staff to other priority areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
No visitors are allowed at the hospital or in aged care except for compassionate reasons, as a support partner for birth, or a parent to accompany a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had already put in some restrictions as from yesterday, particularly in light of a risk of an outbreak in Bendigo,\u201d Mr Faulkner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have visiting pods in aged care so we can have non-contact visits and they\u2019ve continued, and we welcome people to use those.\u201d<\/p>\n
For vaccinations, the State Government announced that people aged 40-49 can now book their COVID-19 vaccinations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point we will be able to accommodate additional vaccinations, but there will be some delays,\u201d Mr Faulkner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those in that age group, eligibility for Pfizer vaccine, it is imperative that they book for that it is not a walk-up like it is for AstraZeneca.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than seven-hundred COVID-19 tests have been recorded across the Loddon Mallee region, with no new positive cases recorded since yesterday\u2019s announcement of exposure sites. CEO of Bendigo Health Peter Faulkner said the clinic screened 440 tests yesterday and provided additional resources to help conduct more than 260 tests in Cohuna. \u201cWe\u2019ve received no advice […]<\/p>\n