VICTORIA has recorded seven-hundred and thirty-three new COVID-19 cases, including a man who attended an anti-lockdown protest, and another death, as the state prepares to roll out the Moderna vaccine.<\/p>\n
Health Minister Martin Foley on Friday confirmed a woman in her 80s from the local government area of Moreland had died, taking the toll from the current outbreak to 21.<\/p>\n
The new locally acquired infections bring the number of active cases in the state to 7160, with 297 people in hospital including 66 in intensive care.<\/p>\n
Mr Foley announced the state will receive 32,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which will be distributed to state-run clinics, from the Federal Government next week.<\/p>\n
“Given some of the issues around Pfizer supply, particularly in the second half of October, we will be pivoting more of our pop-up sites in Moderna in the coming weeks,” he told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
The government wants to make sure the “really strong drive of Victorians to get vaccinated in their communities in safe and accessible locations does not lose momentum”.<\/p>\n
Mr Foley said the vaccine will largely go to the Palm Plaza pop-up clinic in Dandenong, where a COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow.<\/p>\n
Some 300,000 doses will also be distributed to 700 pharmacies across the state, with a focus on the north and west of Melbourne, where most of the infected persons reported on Friday live.<\/p>\n
Included in the new cases was a man\u00a0who was at an anti-lockdown protest on Wednesday in Melbourne’s CBD and centred on the Shrine of Remembrance.<\/p>\n
He is being treated in hospital and public health investigations are underway.<\/p>\n
Some Victoria Police officers have been identified as close contacts of the man and will have to self-isolate.<\/p>\n
“For operational reasons, numbers will not be provided on how many officers were placed into quarantine as a precautionary measure,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“Victoria Police’s priority first and foremost is to ensure the safety of its people and the community.<\/p>\n
“The community can be assured that service delivery to the public will remain unaffected during this time.”<\/p>\n
The protests initially began in opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for the construction sector and the closure of building site tea rooms but morphed into a wider anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine movement.<\/p>\n
Police are patrolling central Melbourne on Friday and have made dozens of arrests, but there’s no sign of a rally so far.<\/p>\n
The fourth day of protests on Thursday was a non-event, with demonstrators largely a no-show despite flagging potential meeting sites.<\/p>\n
Victoria Police made 92 arrests for breaches of public health orders, as well as other matters including outstanding warrants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, stranded Victorians fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will soon be allowed to return home from Greater Sydney.<\/p>\n
From September 30, double-dosed Victorians stuck anywhere in NSW can\u00a0come home if they\u00a0return a negative test 72 hours before departure, isolate at home for 14 days and get tested at the start and end of quarantine.<\/p>\n
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