Marking one year of COVID-19

AFTER a challenging 12 months, Victoria has recorded no locally acquired COVID-19 cases on the one-year anniversary since the pandemic first entered the state.

Last week marked one year since the first case that later fuelled a long battle endured by Victorians.

The state now faces a more positive outcome with 27 days of no locally acquired cases at the time of print, however data obtained from Australian Government Department of Health shows the difference a year can make.

Victoria reported a total of 20,449 cases during the past year and attributed 820 COVID-19 related deaths, 89 less than the country’s total.

Reflecting on the 12 months since the first COVID-19 case, Barwon Health CEO Frances Diver believes Victorians should be proud of their progress.

“It is clear that the actions taken across our region have played a critical role in making sure that Geelong avoided stage 4 restrictions that took place in Melbourne,” she said.

“Everyone in the community should be proud of their efforts to contain outbreaks.”

At the centre of the pandemic are the healthcare workers and providers who continue to adapt to the health recommendations of government bodies.

“Our staff have made a lot of adjustments, it’s been impressive to see the way people have responded so quickly to each challenge,” Ms Diver said.

“Barwon Health has been in a fortunate position where we can provide testing and contact tracing, as well as admitting people to hospital and supporting them in their homes.”

During the height of the second wave, Barwon Health offered five testing sites around the community, with only two still available following the decline in active cases.

Throughout Greater Geelong, a total of 365 cases were reported in the 12-month period and 14 cases across the Surf Coast region.

These numbers come as the global tally reaches over 103.4 million cases and more than 2.2 million deaths since December 2019.

Barwon Health’s tracing and monitoring teams will now look towards the vaccination rollout for the Barwon South West region under the new regional Public Health unit.

Ms Diver said more health areas have been earmarked for future developments of the vaccine rollout.

The Pfizer vaccine will begin being administered to up to five million Australians later this month including those living or working in aged care, hotel quarantine and frontline health workers.

“Thanks to the excellent public health response that has controlled the virus locally, we can afford to take the time to plan and rollout our vaccination program in a safe and controlled way,” she said.