Victoria has recorded 1,377 new Covid cases as a growing outbreak in Melbourne‘s south-east threatens to force numbers even higher.
Four people also lost their lives on Sunday while positive with coronavirus, bringing the state’s total to 869 since the pandemic began.
Monday’s new cases were diagnosed from 67,789 tests and 30,985 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday.
Victoria has recorded 1,377 new Covid cases as a growing outbreak in Melbourne ‘s south-east threatens to force numbers even higher (pictured, people exercise in St Kilda)
Four people also lost their lives on Sunday while positive with coronavirus , bringing the state’s total to 869 since the pandemic began (pictured, health workers in Melbourne)
Health authorities are growing increasingly concerned over a spiralling outbreak in the city’s southeast.
Covid-19 Commander Jereon Weimar said he was particularly worried about the spread of the virus in Pakenham, Keysborough and Frankston.
‘It is my job to be concerned, it is my job to be worried about where the cases are and the dynamics, and we will keep being anxious in all of those locations,’ he said.
Of the 1,220 new Covid cases recorded on Sunday, 236 of the infections were detected in the southeast.
Health officials have responded to the burgeoning outbreak by opening pop-up vaccination clinics in the area.
However, experts say the southeastern suburbs are reporting good vaccination rates, in contrast to postcodes in the north and west at the start of that outbreak.
Health officials have responded to the burgeoning outbreak of new infections in the city’s southeast by opening pop-up vaccination clinics in the area (pictured, people in St Kilda)
Covid-19 Commander Jereon Weimar said on Sunday was particularly worried about the spread of the virus in Melbourne’s southeast (pictured, health workers in Melbourne)
Meanwhile, Victorian childcare providers are currently weighing up whether parents who refuse to get vaccinated should be excluded from centres.
In the state’s roadmap out of lockdown, the plan says that between the 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rate childcare will only be accessible to double-jabbed parents or essential workers.
Victoria is set to hit the 70 per cent double-dose rate on October 26 and the 80 per cent target on November 5.
Childcare workers in New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory have already mandated vaccines for workers in the childcare sector.
Unvaccinated parents could be banned from physically entering childcare centres, dropping children off, or face being excluded completely.
Australian Community Children’s Services national convenor Prue Warrilow said childcare providers were seeking legal advice on rules regarding the unvaccinated.
‘It would be great if the government gave some very clear direction, but they haven’t done it for any other sector in terms of the wider stakeholder group, only the employees,’ Ms Warrilow told The Age.
She added the Fair Work Ombudsman had advised mandated vaccinations were justified for workers in childcare centres, but said it was yet to be determined if this would extend to parents.
A vaccine against Covid-19 for children has not been approved worldwide, however Pfizer will submit data to the Therapeutic Goods Administration following trials.
Without a child-safe jab, experts have said the most efficient way to keep young people safe from the virus is making sure the surrounding adults are vaccinated.
Victoria’s roadmap states only vaccinated parents will have access to childcare providers between the 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates pictured, health care workers in Melbourne)
Victoria is set to hit the 70 per cent double-dose rate on October 26 and the 80 per cent target on November 5 (pictured, locals in South Yarra)
The debate comes just days after Scott Morrison introduced a controversial ‘no jab, no pay’ policy for all health workers across Australia.
Under the new rules thousands of workers within the vast health system would be required to follow the mandate or risk losing their jobs.
Until the announcement every state has decided their own guidelines for vaccination mandates among health staff.
The majority of states have already introduced deadlines for health workers to get the jab but Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory are still in the midst of drawing their policy.
New South Wales’ deadline for health workers to get their first dose ended on September 30, with over 5000 vital frontline staff set to be given the sack.
It comes as Melbourne has officially become the most locked down city in the world after recording its 246th day under stay-at-home orders on Monday.
The record was previously held by the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires at 245 days, followed by Dublin in Ireland at 227 days and London in the UK hitting 201 days.
More to come.