SUNRAYSIA is on track to come out of its seven-day lockdown on time, according to state COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar, but he warns that the region will never return to COVID-zero.
By Tuesday night, Sunraysia health authorities were dealing with more than 100 active cases in the latest outbreak, which has largely affected people aged under 50 and triggered the lockdown announcement late on Friday.
Some Mildura schools closed on Tuesday due to the growing outbreak, but the district also hit the 90 per cent mark for first vaccine doses. The federal Health Department's latest figures for vaccination show 90.3 per cent of people in Mildura have had at least one dose, while 54.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.
There were 24 new COVID cases reported in Mildura on Tuesday, taking the LGA's total to 113 active cases. One new case in Dareton was confirmed, bringing the NSW town's number to 17.
Most of the current cases are younger people, which Mr Weimar – who this week travelled to Mildura to gauge the preparedness of local health systems – said added another layer of concern.
"They spread it more … and suddenly the whole town's on fire," he said.
Mr Weimar said the "phenomenal" public response to calls for testing and vaccination meant the area was on track to end lockdown on time, but there were no guarantees.
"If we find horrific things over the next few days – huge numbers of cases, unlinked, it's all through the town – that would be a real predicament for us," he said. "We have a busy few days ahead of us".
"Obviously it's our deepest wish that we find every single positive case as quickly as possible, get them supported, and then we can all move on beyond this lockdown and get to a better place."
He stressed that those people left unvaccinated would be most at risk as lockdowns across Victoria and NSW ended and transmissions increased.
"The cases will be less significant if we're all vaccinated. Please get it done now, because you don't want to be vulnerable when we open up and start moving around again and when case numbers are likely to go up significantly in November and December."
"One of the things we have to accept is that we won't see COVID-zero again in Sunraysia. There will always be some level of COVID now circulating in our community."
Mr Weimar apologised to the community for Friday's late-notice lockdown call, which left many people confused and businesses unprepared for closure, but he said there had been "a lot of conversations" about reaching the decision.
"The whole way we look at these outbreaks is very different to what it was even three months ago, let alone a year ago," he said.
"Increasingly it's about where are the vulnerabilities and the risks. We're concerned when we see communities with low vaccination rates and we have a few pockets of that here in Mildura and Sunraysia, and that's where we really need to surge in."
Sunraysia Daily understands, meanwhile, that staff and students at more Mildura schools have been directed to test and isolate after cases were uncovered.
In a message to parents on Monday, Mildura South Primary said students who returned to classrooms for the first week of term 4 had been identified as tier 2 contacts. The Daily understands Mildura Primary School was also closed under similar circumstances.
As Mildura passed the halfway point of lockdown on Tuesday and vaccination rates continued to rise, Mildura MP Ali Cupper urged the community to focus on the final goal.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel … but we've got to stay the course," she said.