By Dr Sally Shaw* SUMMER is here and we are all breathing a sigh of relief that we can have Christmas with our friends and family and all the celebrations that go with it. The last two years of COVID has had terrible implications on our businesses, our health and our mental state, this is all over. Or is it? Everyone seems to think that is the case and it is commonly thought there is no difference in the common cold and COVID and, for some people, this is true. At the Rosebud Respiratory Clinic, we have had a very…
Browsing: COVID-19
A PROGRAM run by Peninsula Health has helped more than 100,000 people who tested positive for COVID-19 but did not need to be hospitalised. COVID Positive Pathways started in March 2020 to provide clinical care and support to Frankston and Mornington Peninsula residents. The program started after the first people in the community tested positive for COVID-19 and staff from Peninsula Health’s community care department banded together with volunteers to ensure they were able to receive care at home. The COVID Positive Pathways team makes daily phone calls, delivers medication and clinical consultations, as well as offering social support and…
THE 2022 flu season is adding to staffing and service difficulties across the Mornington Peninsula. Peninsula Health medical services and clinical governance executive director Associate Professor Shyaman Menon said Peninsula Health, like many health services in Victoria, was experiencing an increase in demand due to the current increase in COVID-19 and influenza cases across the state. “We are being agile across our all services to meet this demand and ensure we are continuing to provide the best care for our community,” he said. “Even with protective vaccinations, COVID-19 is still a serious illness for so many people, especially those who…
THE end of lockdown has for many families not meant the end of the distress endured throughout restrictions and providing care in isolation. But a Mornington-based, not-for-profit disability support provider is reminding families that there is help for the challenges ahead. CEO of Biala Peninsula, David Greenwood, said the provider had more than 320 children under its care across the peninsula and wanted to stress the importance of therapy to help build on the positive strengths of the family unit, and “create a sense of rhythm and routine”. Biala family therapist Elsha Young said many families needing therapeutic support for…
PENINSULA Health has enacted its own code brown in line with the state government’s emergency alert to relieve pressure on the hospital system. From Wednesday January 19, Peninsula Health has been able to redeploy workers to areas of greatest need, postpone leave to boost staffing numbers and redistribute resources to ensure critical patients are prioritised. It can also call on Australian Defence Force personnel for help and to drive ambulances. Peninsula Health’s acting executive director medical services, Dr Chris Bowen, said the organisation was managing the pressure on its health system, but was asking the community to keep COVID-safe as…
MORNINGTON Peninsula and bayside businesses are experiencing the fallout from increasing COVID-19 infections, with some having to close at their busiest time of the year due to staff shortages. Hotel Sorrento closed its restaurant and bar on New Year’s Eve “due to health and safety reasons” scheduled to reopen on 7 January. The hotel was impacted due to a positive COVID-19 case on Thursday, December 30. Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club has suffered a similar fate, with nine staff testing positive, along with several members. However, instead of closing the club will reduce its restaurant operations and has halted sailing…
PORTSEA Surf Life Saving Club’s Nippers Program due to finish last Thursday and Friday (6 and 7 January) became the latest victim of COVID cancellations on Wednesday. The club announced that the last two days of the Nippers program would not go ahead because many families and volunteers had been impacted by the rapid rise in COVID infections across the Mornington Peninsula. A spokesperson said the “tough” decision was made to cancel the rest of the seven-day program because all available volunteers would be required for beach patrol, and some had already been forced to isolate due to positive cases,…
ROSEBUD Respiratory Clinic has detected an average of 60 positive cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks and 54 cases last week. The figures show the virus is still running riot on the Mornington Peninsula, as the bulk of the testing in the region is done at the Rosebud and Frankston hospitals and at state government-run pop-up clinics. Schools have been hard-hit, too, with outbreaks at Red Hill, Boneo, Rosebud, and Mount Martha primary schools, St Mary’s Hastings, and Peninsula Grammar. Dr Sally Shaw said Rosebud Respiratory Clinic offered free Rapid Antigen testing, with results sent to the patient…
KANE Bentley is between a rock and a hard place having been double jabbed against COVID-19 while overseas but on returning to Australia found the vaccine – Sinopharm – is not recognised here. The Mornington resident says advice from the Health Department, confirmed by his GP, is that he should not get another vaccine as not enough research has been done on mixing them. He has also been told that the Chinese vaccine, which has been given the nod by the World Health Organisation, “could be approved here in weeks or months”. The wait is proving costly for Mr Bentley…
DESPITE the rapid rise in positive COVID-19 cases on the Mornington Peninsula the Department of Health will now only publicise sites classified tier 1. A tier 1 site is where a confirmed case has attended and where there is a high risk of transmission recurring. The decision means there is no easy access to detailed information on where and when all positive cases were detected, or where they visited and at what times. Thirteen cases were detected in the five days to Sunday (10 October) by staff at Rosebud Respiratory Clinic. Last Thursday the clinic detected 13 positive cases. The…
CLUBS and social or sporting groups on the Mornington Peninsula are heading into unknown territory as they prepare to welcome back members emerging from lockdown. But will those who are vaccinated and those who are not be treated differently? Will entry depend on being able to prove a double jab? Similarly, how will Mornington Peninsula Shire deal with the vaccinated and the unvaccinated? Will those who have declined be banned from entering shire halls, libraries, or offices? Who will police entry? State government rulings are often hard to follow. Last week, many tennis clubs delayed opening while they sorted through…
DEMAND for COVID-19 testing at Rosebud Respiratory Clinic increased in the past week but there is capacity for more people to get tested. Positive cases were detected last week among residents from Dromana, Tootgarook and Safety Beach. “After speaking to the patients we know of some additional exposure sites on the Mornington Peninsula,” the clinic’s Dr Sally Shaw said. These are Dromana IGA, where a positive case visited 6.40-6.55pm, Saturday 25 September, Xpress Gourmet Pizza & Pasta, Dromana, 6.54-7.10pm, Saturday 25 September, and Mavi Fish & Chips, Dromana, 11.30am-12.30pm, Sunday 26 September. Another positive case travelled on the 788 bus…
STAFF at testing centres at Rosebud and Seaford have returned the highest number of positive COVID-19 test results “since the start of the pandemic”. Dr Sally Shaw said tests at the centres recorded 11 positive cases of the virus over the past two weeks – including five on Wednesday and four on Thursday. She said no sites on the Mornington Peninsula had been added to the state government’s COVID-19 exposure site website website since 10 September, which meant possibly hundreds of exposure sites were not being listed. “We have been fairly sheltered so far on the peninsula and have all…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has adopted a $2 million COVID-19 grant scheme as part of its $10 million recovery package adopted earlier this year. The offer of money aims to ease the pain of more than 200 days of lockdown resulting in ongoing financial stress and impacts on wellbeing. The direct payments will be available from next month to eligible businesses, community groups, creatives (individuals and organisations), not for profits and environmental groups. “Council is seriously committed to helping our community recover from COVID-19,” the mayor Cr Despi O’Connor said. “These grants are just one of the many things we are…
MORE than a quarter of a million people have been tested at Peninsula Health’s COVID-19 screening clinics since the first swab was taken in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region 18 months ago. The milestone was reached on Thursday 2 September at the health service’s drive and walk through testing site, on the old tennis courts next to Frankston Hospital. Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula now have some of the highest testing rates in Victoria. Dozens of staff – including nurses, allied health, ward clerks, security guards and traffic controllers – have run permanent and temporary locations. The mobile team…
A SOLICITOR’S office in Suffolk Street, Rosebud, was declared a Tier 1 COVID-19 hot spot last week after being visited by a suspected active case. The Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton advised that anyone who attended Alpass & Associates, 10am-4.30pm, Thursday 26 August, immediately get tested and quarantine for 14 days. Meanwhile, Mornington Peninsula Shire is urging residents to “get the jab as soon as you can”. “Once 70 per cent of Victorians have had at least one vaccine dose the state government has said it will look at easing restrictions,” it said in a statement last week. Vaccination reportedly…
VICTORIA’S sixth COVID-19 lockdown is nearing its fourth week. The vaccination hub at Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston was named a tier two exposure site last week after a positive COVID-19 case got the jab there. Anyone who visited the vaccination centre on 16 August between 11.30am and 12.45 pm must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result. A statement on Peninsula Health’s Facebook page said that the positive case had no symptoms while at the hub. “The Frankston Community Vaccination Hub remains open and is safe for you to visit if you have a booking for…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council will cop a $1 million hit by waiving or reducing fees and charges in support of the business sector, community and the “most vulnerable” in the COVID-19 environment. The measures are part of a $10 million package of spending and support included in council’s 2021-22 budget aimed at helping peninsula businesses and organisations recover from the effects of the pandemic. It also includes $650,000 to re-establish outdoor dining during the warmer months; $2.2 million for a community grants program; $500,000 to fast track priority climate emergency actions and $490,000 for the Peninsula Trail shared path. Council…
A FRIEND of mine sent me a text message asking if I’d had any adverse reaction to the vaccine. “I didn’t,” I typed. “But since getting it, I have been able to speak fluent Pirahã, which I’m told is the native language of a near-extinct tribe living in the Amazon basin”. In reply my friend sent me a “thumbs up”. He didn’t seem to think it odd that I had become instantly bilingual with an exotic language spoken by only a few hundred rainforest dwelling hunters in Brazil. That, it seems, was plausible. You see, in this Year of Our…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Despi O’Connor teamed up with Frankston Council mayor Kris Bolam at the studios of radio station RPP FM to encourage everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “Getting vaccinated is a positive step in keeping our community protected, safe and open for business,” Cr O’Connor said. Cr Bolam said the opening of a vaccination hub in Frankston and the increase in vaccines being made available, meant it was easy for people to book an appointment and get vaccinated locally. The mayors’ message is airing across the peninsula on RPP FM. To check eligibility and book a…
THE Mornington Peninsula’s army of small building, renovation and construction businesses are breathing easier after the state government last week relaxed work restrictions. Despite the lockdown, the businesses were given the go ahead to do outdoor building and maintenance works on occupied homes, as opposed to those under construction. This work was not permitted under earlier, tougher lockdown rules. Master Builders Victoria CEO Rebecca Casson said the work covered the renovations by peninsula-based small businesses providing kitchen and bathroom redesign and replacement, pool installations, decking, painting, landscaping, solar panel installation, and garden maintenance. Ms Casson was speaking after the extension…
VISITORS and locals on the southern Mornington Peninsula appear to be taking a relaxed approach to the rules around COVID-19 safety. A Portsea resident complained that people there, and in Sorrento, were treating the area as a “get-out-of-jail-free card” by congregating in groups, chatting face-to-face, and ignoring mask rules. “All you need to do is drive and walk around and have a look,” he said. “It is an absolute joke with nobody wearing masks outdoors in any capacity, and gathering at the coffee shops every day, especially the one at Portsea pier from 8.45-10am. “Point Nepean National Park is being…
THREE Mornington Peninsula businesses have been added to the list of places visited by people confirmed to have COVID-19 while infectious. Visitors to all three premises who were there at the same time as the COVID positive person have been advised to get tested immediately and then quarantine for 14 days. The identification of the three sites and listing by the DHHS came as Greater Melbourne was plunged into a seven-day lockdown. The three businesses listed last week by the Department of Health and Human Services are the Enchanted Adventure Garden, Purves Road, Arthurs Seat; Peninsula Hot Springs (bathhouse reception…
THE state government has given Mornington Peninsula Shire money to hire 41 temporary staff as part of its Working for Victoria campaign. The new jobs are in volunteering, community houses, business liaison, health and wellbeing, events, seniors’ inclusion, township activation, community engagement, youth employment and creative industries. They come under a $500 million program which aims to help jobseekers find work and employers find workers. Economic and social impacts of the pandemic across the peninsula have been severe, with 2205 jobs lost at its peak in August, and pre-existing social and health issues worsening. The new roles include a creative…
PUBLIC sector aged care residents and staff on the Mornington Peninsula have started receiving their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Residents at Peninsula Health’s Carinya Aged Care Centre at Capel Sound rolled up their sleeves last week, as phase 1a of the vaccine rollout is expanded across the region after beginning with frontline healthcare staff at Frankston Hospital. Carinya nurse unit manager Michelle Paine says Carinya’s staff, residents and their families are keen to receive the first of their two vaccine doses, as they see the vaccine program as an important step towards protecting themselves and each other. “The last…
FRONTLINE workers at Frankston Hospital have begun to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Peninsula Health staff began to receive their first vaccine doses on 3 March. Nurse Vanessa Nolan said “it went absolutely fine, barely felt a thing.” “It was a really simple and seamless process. I sat in the chair, signed a consent form, got the vaccination, sat down for about 15 minutes or so and then back off to work,” she said. “I’ve seen the effects of the virus on people and their families. I’m just doing my part to get vaccinated, not just to protect myself and my…
CAMPERS were back on the road for home last Friday (12 February) ahead of the latest travel restrictions and closure of the Mornington Peninsula Shire-run foreshore reserves. Having avoided the peak-season hordes and setting up camp after the school holidays, the campers’ visions for a quiet break were brought to a sudden halt by the latest outbreaks of COVID-19 and Friday’s 11.59pm “circuit breaker restrictions”. Once home, the campers are limited to the same rules applying to all other Victorians, leaving home for just four reasons: permitted work/study, essential shopping (within five kilometres of home), care or caregiving and exercise…
COVID-19 is still lurking around the community and anyone with cold or flu like symptoms, however mild, should get tested. Medical authorities say every test helps the community stay safe and stay open. Symptoms can include fever, coughing, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, headache, muscle or joint pains, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of sense of smell, altered sense of taste, loss of appetite and fatigue. Testing clinics on the Mornington Peninsula are at Eleanora House at the front of the Rosebud Hospital, in the clinic car park at Atticus Health Medical Clinic, Hastings, by appointment only, and at…
VISITORS to Mornington Peninsula cafes, shops and businesses are being urged to check in using QR codes or by jotting down their names and phone numbers. Checking in properly – even if only there for a coffee – allows contact tracers to more easily follow up in the event of a positive case of coronavirus. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 9 February 2021
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is extending its range of community and business grants to “support our community in the recovery phase” of the COVID-19 pandemic. To be launched next week, the grants will be available to eligible business associations, bushland and foreshore friends groups, Landcare groups, not-for-profit organisations, community groups and “creatives” (individuals, organisations and groups). The grants follow help to peninsula businesses in which the shire offered rent relief, waived outdoor trading fees, launched a Funding Finder website and Support Local campaign, as well as extended outdoor dining areas for food businesses. “I encourage anyone in our community looking…