IT’S over.
Mildura’s lockdown ended at midnight Thursday in line with the lifting of Melbourne’s months-long stay-at-home orders.
The announcement came Thursday as Mildura recorded a further seven positive cases of COVID-19 to take the region’s total active cases to 226 and amid calls for regional Victoria to be granted “Freedom Day” and reopen safely sooner than metro Melbourne as vaccine targets are achieved.
Victoria’s Acting Chief Health Officer Professor Benjamin Cowie said the decision to end Mildura’s lockdown was a balance between continuing with the strict restrictions and the resulting social consequences.
“The balance is between continuing a lockdown and the social and mental health and broader social consequences of that versus the utility of the lockdown in continuing to address those fundamentals,” Prof. Cowie said.
“Our judgment, at this point in time, is that the balance is in favour of Mildura coming out of lockdown while we continue those much more fundamental supports on the ground in the region,” he said.
Prof. Cowie said the impact of opening up with high rates of active cases in vulnerable Indigenous communities was weighed “very carefully” when considering whether an area would go in or come out of a lockdown.
“The fundamental on-the-ground work that’s going on in Mildura is much more the answer there,” he said.
“The work of the local Aboriginal community controlled health organisations and health services and community organisations – we’ve had members of the public health team up there in support of that response – the testing response, the vaccination response.
“We all want to see the levels of vaccination among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians meet and exceed those of the state average and a huge amount of work is going on led by the Aboriginal community there around vaccination.”
On Thursday, Deputy Premier James Merlino said the end of the state’s last remaining lockdowns was “thanks to the extraordinary efforts of all Victorians”.
Mr Merlino said it was “quite incredible” that Victoria had achieved 90 per cent first dose and 70 per cent double dose in Victoria’s 16 years and over population.
“Every single Victorian has earned this and we are so grateful and proud of both the sacrifices you have made to save lives and the efforts you have made to make sure that you get vaccinated, because we all know that vaccination is our ticket out of this pandemic,” Mr Merlino said.
“That said, please continue to be safe and prevent the unnecessary spread of the virus – wear your mask, check in everywhere you go,” he said.
Victorian Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh said COVID restrictions must lift in all country areas when the 80 per cent double vaccination rate is achieved and not be forced to wait until vaccination rates in metropolitan Melbourne catch up with the rest of the state.
“The 80 per cent double dose milestone in regional Victoria must be the trigger for ‘Freedom Day’ in country communities,” Mr Walsh said.
“Holding back lives and the economic recovery in regional Victoria makes zero sense,” he said.
The Far West Local Health District (FWLHD) reported three new cases of COVID-19 in Gol Gol to 8pm Wednesday.
One is a close contact and two are being investigated.
Three more cases recovered on Wednesday including two in Dareton and one in Trentham Cliffs.
There are currently no known active cases in Broken Hill, while the last reported case in Wilcannia was 23 days ago.
The total number of active cases in the FWLHD is 24, all in Wentworth Local Government Area.
Residents in Dareton, Buronga, Trentham Cliffs, Mourquong and Gol Gol have been urged to limit their movements in the community and get tested if they experience even mild cold-like symptoms.
