The state’s health department confirmed zero new local virus cases about 8.40am on Tuesday, along with three infections in hotel quarantine.There are 54 active coronavirus cases in Victoria, down from 64 on Monday.The results came from more than 15,067 tests, with 9997 vaccine doses also administered in the past 24 hours.Testing numbers fell again after just 16,932 were recorded on Sunday, and 17,102 on Saturday.More than 50,000 tests were taken each day during the height of the state’s latest lockdown.Both of Monday’s new positive cases were children, with one linked to a household cluster in Reservoir and the other was a close contact of the City of Melbourne case announced over the weekend.The health department said no community exposure sites were associated with the two cases during their infectious period as both were isolating.Health officials investigating an unlinked case announced Saturday have determined transmission likely occurred in a shared facility within a low-rise townhouse and apartment complex in Southbank.The case that tested positive on Saturday lived in the same complex as an aged care worker at Arcare Maidstone who also tested positive.Government nurses were on site on Monday working with residents to help them isolate and establish a pop-up testing facility.The complex has not been listed as an exposure site but Victorians have been urged to check the state government’s website for the full and frequently changing list.VICTORIANS SEEKING PFIZER JAB TURNED AWAYPfizer vaccine supply issues are causing chaos in Victoria, as those seeking their first shot are turned away and warned they might not get the jab for up to a month.The Herald Sun has seen a leaked call centre script advising operators fielding booking inquiries to tell those wanting their first dose of Pfizer to ring back at the end of the week.And callers trying to book their second Pfizer vaccination have been told to phone back in a couple of weeks.Pfizer jabs are also not currently available for walk-in appointments at the state’s mass vaccination centres as supplies become stretched.Some people who were turned away on Monday said they were told vaccinations might not resume for a month, according to The Herald Sun.Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt called on Victoria to fix its vaccination booking system so that Pfizer recipients could lock in appointments for both doses at the same time.But state Health Minister Martin Foley said 50,000 people had made Pfizer jab appointments this week and all further supplies were needed to ensure those requiring a second dose would get it.“Victoria will distribute whatever it’s provided in terms of vaccination,” he said.“The truth is we are operating under the constraints of what we are being provided.”VICTORIA’S COVID EXPOSURE LIST GROWSTwo stores at the Spencer St DFO shopping centre been added to the long list of Victorian Covid-19 exposure sites.The state’s health department added both the Strandbags and Skechers shops at the Spencer Outlet Centre on Monday afternoon after Victoria recorded two new locally acquired virus cases.The stores have been listed as tier 2 exposure sites, with people who visited the store at those times required to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.A positive case shopped at the Strandbags store at Shop T12, 201 Spencer Street, Docklands on May 18 from midday to 12.25pm, and Skechers at Shop T94/95, 201 Spencer Street, Docklands on May 18 from 12.10pm to 12.40pm.A Coles Express service station was also added as a tier 2 exposure site on Monday.A positive case visited the Coles Express Melton Highway service station at 410 Melton Highway, Taylors Lakes on May 21 from 10.30am to 11am.THE QLD SUBURBS ON COVID ALERTResidents in more than 20 Queensland suburbs are on high alert after Covid-19 fragments were detected in wastewater catchments over the past week. Results released by Queensland Health on Monday revealed sewage from four suburbs in Brisbane and 23 on the Sunshine Coast had tested positive to traces of the virus. The viral fragments were detected in the Fairfield catchment in Brisbane — which covers the suburbs of Annerley, Fairfield, Yeerongpilly and Yeronga — during its weekly routine testing that concluded on Sunday. There were also traces found in the Kawana catchment area on the Sunshine Coast, and included suburbs like Aroona, Buddina, Golden Beach, Little Mountain, Meridan Plains, Pelican Waters and Shelly Beach.The catchment area also covers the suburb of Caloundra, where a couple from Victoria tested positive last week after escaping lockdown and arriving into the state on June 5. Residents in the affected areas are asked to closely monitor for even the slightest of symptoms and immediately get tested if they present. Last week’s testing revealed positive results in Pimpama and Luggage Point which both came back with no detections the following week. The catchment testing is one line of defence against the virus as it could indicate that there was an infectious person living or visiting a certain area who had not yet been identified.It could also present from a person who had recovered and was no longer infectious with Covid-19 but was still shedding viral fragments.GPs TO MAKE HOME VISITS The federal government has announced GPs will be able to administer doses for people with disabilities and the elderly at their homes, as a new vaccine milestone is reached.Health Minister Greg Hunt said 5.9 million people had received their first vaccine dose and more than 5.8 million of them had been administered their second dose.“During the course of the last week, we’ve also seen a record day and record weekday figures,” he told reporters on Monday.Mr Hunt also revealed an “important next step” in reaching older Australians and those with disabilities.“We’ve now reached 100 per cent of aged care facilities around Australia for first doses and 94 per cent of facilities have had second doses, with the remaining numbers over the coming days and weeks as they reach the three-week mark from their previous dose,” he said.“As part of that, one of the things we’re doing is enlisting Australia’s GPs to be able to visit people at home or in a disability or in a residential aged care facility.”Under the home visitation payment program, GPs will be paid $56.75 plus the vaccination fee for the first patient they visit.“It’s about expanding the vaccination program, bringing it to people,” Mr Hunt said.“It’s recognising that each year we have up to 60,000 people who come into aged care and to ensure that there is a continuous vaccination program in our aged care facilities and in our disability facilities as those programs continue to go forward.NED-3619-AstraZeneca blood clots-What we know
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