By Luke Voogt
Health authorities confirmed one new case of COVID-19 in Geelong this afternoon with a Hamlyn Heights resident testing positive.
“The individual is isolating at home with their family,” Barwon South West Public Health Unit director Eugene Athan said.
“Investigations into the acquisition are underway.”
The case was one of 176 recorded across Victoria on Wednesday and brings Geelong’s total active cases to 11.
On Wednesday night one of six cases in Lara was hospitalised, Professor Athan confirmed.
“There is one COVID positive inpatient aged in their late 20s at University Hospital Geelong,” he said.
“The patient is from the Lara household and is in a stable condition.
“The positive cases in the Geelong region range in age from mid-teens up to 50s, with younger cases than we’ve seen in previous outbreaks.”
In a statement earlier today Barwon held said the patient was admitted directly to the relevant ward and not via the emergency department, in line with protocol for managing COVID-19 patients.
“All appropriate infection prevention measures were followed and the patient is currently in a stable condition,” the health provider said.
Four cases linked to a Thompson household have moved to hotel quarantine, Professor Athan confirmed.
Meanwhile, Barwon Health today reduced the waiting period between first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from 12 weeks to six weeks following Department of Health advice.
“People with AstraZeneca appointments already booked are able to cancel if they wish to bring them forward,” Professor Athan said.
“AstraZeneca first or second dose bookings are preferred, but are available at Ford on a walk-in basis.”
“We expect Geelong to reach a vaccination rate of 70 per cent with at least one dose in the next seven to 10 days.”
On Wednesday evening Barwon Health listed 7 Origins Café from 2.20pm to 3.10pm last Saturday (August 28), and Poco Café Exprès from 11am to 12.10pm and Coles on Shannon Avenue from 12pm to 1.05pm, last Sunday (August 29), as Tier 2 exposures sites.
Barwon Health has also listed the Geelong Distribution Centre – Boardriders in North Geelong as a Tier 2 site from 3pm to midnight on August 23, along with The Gordon TAFE East Geelong Campus [from 8.00am to 4.45pm on August 26].
The first exposure site is related to the Thompson household while the second relates to a metro case, according to Barwon Health.
