The Australian Government Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, has extended the COVID-19 Hotspot for the purposes of Commonwealth support for Greater Melbourne, Moorabool Shire, City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, Borough of Queenscliff, Bass Coast Shire LGA (including Phillip Island) and the Rural City of Mildura to 27 July 2021.
Community transmission and increasing case numbers have continued in these areas. There has been ongoing emergence of cases infectious while in the community, with over 330 exposure sites listed on Victoria's website. Accordingly, the Australian Government Chief Medical Officer has extended the Hotspot until 11:59pm on 27 July 2021, with further review on or before 27 July 2021.
Professor Kelly reminds the community of the increased risk of the highly transmissible Delta variant and requests that they continue to follow the directions of Victorian Health.
Declaring a hotspot for Commonwealth support triggers, if required:
- Provision of PPE from the National Medical Stockpile
- Actions for aged care facilities including PPE, single site workforce supplement and integration of an aged care response centre into the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre
- Assistance with contact tracing
- Asymptomatic testing via General Practice led Respiratory Clinics
- Reprioritisation of vaccine supplies
- Access to COVID-19 Disaster Payment, if eligibility criteria is met,
- Two Medicare Benefits Schedule items for telehealth consultations for patients in COVID-19 hotspots.
