Three consecutive days without a new COVID-19 case in Wodonga has health officials upbeat, but far from comfortable.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Albury Wodonga Health continues to manage three positive cases in the Border city, but the fourth identified case, announced on Saturday, is in Melbourne for accommodation support.
All except three have reopened, but business has taken a hit as retailers begin to bounce back from temporary closures.
More than 2200 tests have been conducted at Albury Wodonga Health sites in Wodonga since Friday.
After 284 tests on Friday at the Vermont and Smythe Street sites, Wodonga Racecourse was opened for testing on Saturday to cater for the extra demand and contributed to the total of 591.
A further 744 residents came out to get tested on Sunday and another 619 on Monday.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Albury Wodonga Health public health director Lucie Shanahan said it was promising all tests results received had been negative.
"We are pleased with the community's outstanding response in getting tested, following an increased number of exposure sites across the region," she said.
"We're aware a number of people have received a text message from the Department of Health in regards to current Wodonga exposure sites. If you have already been tested for these sites in the past four days, you don't need to be re-tested.
"We encourage people to remain vigilant and not allow complacency to set in."
Wodonga mayor Kevin Poulton said it had been reassuring to know despite the exhaustion of the community from COVID, it had continued to rally and do all the right things.
"More importantly than ever, I think you'll see the vaccination uptake increase and some of the hesitancy is gone," he said.
"Whilst we're bearing the brunt of it in Victoria and NSW at the moment, the other states are lagging behind so their freedoms, for want of a better word, might be around now but they could be a bit stuck if they're slow on the uptake of the vaccine."
Councillor Poulton said it was important Wodonga residents continued to support local businesses.
"We're all aware of the pain we've been through and it's highlighted better than ever the inconsistencies between NSW and Victoria," he said.
"You walk down the main street of either city and it's a completely different feeling depending on which stage of the pandemic we're up to.
"Whilst there's capacity limits for hospitality and retail settings that have had to close for a couple of days and others that remain closed while they try to get their staffing sorted out, we've got to make sure we can keep every person in a job locally."
Ms Shanahan revealed the testing site at Wodonga Racecourse will be closed on Wednesday to support community testing in Beechworth after the town recorded a positive case on Saturday night.
The Beechworth COVID testing clinic will be located at Beechworth Secondary College Stadium, with entry via Balaclava Road.
In a partnership between Albury Wodonga Health and Dorevitch Pathology, the clinic will be open from 10am to 6pm on Wednesday and 9am to 5pm on Thursday for all ages.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News.