Seven Victorians have died from Covid-19, as the state records its highest case number since the start of the pandemic.Victoria recorded 950 local infections on Wednesday, bringing the total number of active cases to 9890. Seven people died from the virus in the past 24 hours. More than 61,300 tests were received on Tuesday, while 34,028 people received a Covid vaccine.Currently, 78.7 per cent of eligible Victorians have received a single dose of the vaccine, while 48.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.Vic Locally-acquired Covid-19Meanwhile, support payments for Victorians forced out of work during the state’s lockdown will end two weeks after 80 per cent of eligible adults are fully vaccinated.The Herald Sun understands federal grants for affected businesses will also stop flowing once that threshold is reached, in a move that increases the pressure on the state government to allow shuttered businesses to fully reopen.Josh Frydenberg will announce on Wednesday that once 70 per cent of those over 16 in a state are fully vaccinated, individuals receiving the $750 payment will have to reapply every week.When the 80 per cent mark is reached, the payment will be cut to $450 in the first week for those who have lost more than eight hours of work, and $100 for those on income support.In the second week, the payment for those who have still lost more than eight hours of work will be brought into line with the Jobseeker unemployment benefit at $320.More than 614,000 Victorians have already received the payment. A $2.3bn package of grants for businesses affected by the state’s lockdown ends on Thursday, but more support is due to be announced soon.However, the Herald Sun understands this will also be switched off at 80 per cent – a mark Victoria is expected to reach in early November. The Treasurer said the commonwealth had provided more than $13bn in direct support during the Delta outbreak.“As I have said before, we can’t eliminate the virus, we need to learn to live with it in a Covid-safe way,” Mr Frydenberg said.“This means we must ease restrictions as vaccination rates hit 70-80 per cent in accordance with the plan agreed at national cabinet.”Vaccinate target chartAmid criticism from some industry groups about Victoria’s reopening plan, particularly over ongoing density limits in venues, Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy said the state should reopen completely on December 1 along with other jurisdictions.“We should have a road map in front of us that matches other states, that says it’s about time we got our lives back, it’s about time that we got hope back,” he said. The third phase of the national plan, which kicks in after 80 per cent of Australians are double-dosed, calls for fully vaccinated people to be “exempt from all domestic restrictions” while allowing for “minimum outgoing baseline restrictions, adjusted to minimise cases”.Premier Daniel Andrews hit back at critics on Tuesday, saying he was “not quite sure that people who are making that criticism have read the national plan”. NED-4588-VIC-road map-out-of-lockdownLATROBE IN LOCKDOWN AS CASES ESCALATEThe City of Latrobe has entered a seven-day lockdown overnight following a rapid increase in coronavirus cases in recent days.Residents can only leave their home for essential goods and services, care-giving or compassionate reasons, authorised work or permitted education, exercise or outdoor interaction and getting vaccinated.Locals are not permitted to travel to other parts of regional Victoria unless it is for those reasons.Shopping, exercise and outdoor social interaction will be limited to 15km from the home for four hours each day.Residents can meet with one other person, or up to four others from two households if all present are fully vaccinated.Masks will also be mandatory for both indoors and outdoors settings.While people can visit their intimate partner or single social bubble buddy, no other visitors will be allowed in the home.Authorities are urging residents to abide by health measures and get tested if they are experiencing any symptoms.“If you’re in the City of Latrobe, please follow the lockdown restrictions, get tested if you have symptoms, and get vaccinated if you haven’t already,” Acting Chief Health Officer Professor Ben Cowie said.“We’ve just seen the Ballarat and Geelong communities get through an outbreak so we know it can be done – it’s vital we protect the local community and the rest of regional Victoria from significant outbreaks.”A rapid response team has also been deployed to the area to provide additional support testing, and boost capacity and extend opening hours.There are coronavirus testing sites in Traralgon, Morwell, and Moe, while capacity will be boosted in Baw Baw and Bass Coast.There are now 18 active coronavirus cases in the City of Latrobe Local Government Area. Some 73 per cent of the population has had at least one vaccination dose, while 44 per cent are fully vaccinated.NED-4476-Covid-19-Vaccine-Rates-MelbourneSTAFF SHORTAGE BITE SUPERMARKETSSupermarkets are running out of staff, with many forced into isolation after working at exposure sites.Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells has called for a rethink of quarantine rules in an effort to ease the shortage.About 3000 Coles staff are currently in isolation across Victoria and NSW – and 30,000 have been forced to isolate over the past three months despite not one testing positive to Covid-19.Mr Swindells told 3AW on Wednesday morning that the situation in NSW had improved while Victoria was getting “progressively worse”.He said 37 stores had been “significantly disrupted” by staff shotages and 22 had “moderate to minor disruptions” – representing about a quarter of the company’s Victorian stores.“We can’t have the old isolation rules apply to the new norms of opening up,” Mr Swindells said.“We want to go back to similar protocols we had last year which is that we’ll do the contact tracing for team members that have come through and (someone) tested positive and we’ll have an appropriate and proportionate response.“The numbers of team members being put into isolation is not reflective of the riskHe predicted the situation would worsen as the state reopened and said both supermarkets and retailers would struggle to cope with consumer demand at Christmas if workers will still forced to isolate.Deoples COVID-19 Victorian Exposure Sites TablePLEA TO CARRY ON CAMPINGVictoria is in danger of losing hundreds of school camps to residential developers if outdoor education doesn’t return next term, experts warn.Camps and other mass activities are currently banned, and talks are underway between relevant ministers and outdoor sports organisations.Australian Camps Association chief executive Rod Thomson said camps and outdoor activities were “fantastic for the kids to connect with nature, their fellow students and teachers”. “We hope to get kids back on camp in what will be a sunny term 4,” he said. The businesses, which provide 5000 jobs and $474m for the state each year, also needed support, he said.“Otherwise camps will be sold to holiday house and residential housing developers and our kids won’t have these precious developmental opportunities.”Mr Thomson said 240 camps and outdoor activity providers were in “dire straits” as a result of the six lockdowns. “Half have fallen through the gaps in recent Victorian government support packages so are closing, or about to close forever,” he said.A state government spokesman said: “We look forward to camps reopening when the public health advice says it’s safe to do so.”COVID-POSITIVE MELBOURNE DAD FIGHTS FOR LIFEThe daughter of a man Melbourne doctors have labelled one of the “sickest Covid patients in the country” is urging all Australians to get the jab.Greenvale dad-of-five Zain Tiba, 45, was perfectly healthy with no underlying medical conditions before he was struck down by coronavirus on September 6.Mr Tiba’s daughter Ella Zain says her sick dad is now fighting for his life at The Alfred hospital, on a ventilator, kidney dialysis and ecmo machines in an intensive care unit.“If my dad would have gotten the vaccine, it would have avoided all the hardships,” Ms Zain told the Herald Sun.Read the full story here. National – 2021 – Covid Vaccination StatsNEW TREATMENT COULD PROVIDE ‘IMMEDIATE PROTECTION’ A new Australian-made Covid-19 treatment is hoped to work beside vaccinations to protect the most vulnerable members of the community after the nation reopens.Developed by a consortium of Australia’s leading research institutes, the monoclonal antibodies treatment has successfully blocked the SARS-CoV-2 virus ahead of planned human trials next year.Unlike vaccinations, antibodies treatments provide immediate protection against the virus – making them suitable to prevent severe disease once a person is already infected, or to be rolled out among close contacts to stop an outbreak spreading through settings such as aged-care homes.Read the full story here. VICTORIA WON’T CUT PFIZER JAB GAPVictoria’s vaccination hubs will receive 529,800 Pfizer doses in the last two weeks of October, the biggest fortnight of the rollout, but the state government is still refusing to immediately fast-track second jabs that could see an earlier end to lockdown.The Herald Sun can reveal 264,900 doses will be sent to the state hubs in both weeks, which federal health chiefs say is more than enough to deliver second Pfizer doses three weeks apart instead of six.But Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley is still stalling, saying the state didn’t have “final confirmation of that last week of October” to reduce the interval between jabs.Read the full story here.
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