By Laura Michell
Thousands of people turned out for testing at sites across the northern suburbs over the past week, while thousands more booked COVID vaccinations as the City of Whittlesea became the epicentre of Victoria’s latest COVID-19 outbreak.
The cluster linked to the City of Whittlesea has spread across Melbourne, growing to 30 cases as of Friday, and plunging Victoria into its fourth lockdown.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 14 active cases of the virus in the Whittlesea municipality: nine in Epping, two in each of Thomastown and Bundoora and one in Lalor.
There were three actives cases in Hume: one in postcode 3064 (Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park, Mickleham, Donnybrook and Kalkallo), one in Greenvale and one in postcode 3043 (Gladstone Park and Tullamarine).
Fourteen sites across Whittlesea and Hume had been identified as tier one exposure sites as of Friday, including three supermarkets, a swim school, a gym and a medical centre.
Twenty-three sites were listed as tier two exposure sites by the health department, including a food court at Pacific Epping and the Epping North Shopping Centre.
Northern Health said testing numbers had increased at its sites over the past week, with the health service processing over 2000 tests at Northern Hospital and the Craigieburn Centre last Tuesday and Wednesday alone.
A Northern Health spokesperson said more than 2500 people booked to receive a COVID vaccination at Northern Hospital’s vaccination clinic between Monday and Thursday last week.
The health department set up a number of new testing sites across Whittlesea and Hume last week to keep up with demand for testing as waiting times surged to four hours at some locations.
The new testing sites include Campbellfield Community Centre, Campbellfield; Epping Memorial Hall, Epping; and Mosaic Pavilion, Lalor.
Whittlesea council chief executive Craig Lloyd urged everyone who had been at exposure sites or had COVID symptoms to get tested.
Mr Lloyd said that while many people had turned out for testing, officials believed there were people who had COVID symptoms or who had attended known exposure sites who had yet to be tested.
“We still think there might be a lot of people who have not been tested or who putting it down to the sniffles,” he said.
“We need people to get tested.”
A new mass vaccination clinic, run by DPV Health, was opened at the Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre last Tuesday. The site is able to accept walk-ins.
Last Thursday, the state government announced that people aged 40-49 would be eligible for vaccinations at state-run clinics.
Acting Premier James Merlino urged everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated to make an appointment as soon as possible.
“The only way through this pandemic is for people to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible,” he said.
For more information about vaccination centres, visit: coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-centres.
