Tara Murray
COVID-19 cases continue to grow in Brimbank as another vaccine blitz gets under way this week.
As cases continue to grow across the state, a number cases have popped up in suburbs across Brimbank.
On Sunday, there were 78 new cases in Brimbank, with a total of 690 active cases in the municipality.
The 3023 post code which includes Burnside, Burnside Heights, Cairnlea, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Deer Park North and Ravenhall has the most active cases in the area.
There has been an increase in cases in Sunshine West, with COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar highlighting it as an area with increased cases on Sunday.
The impact of the cases and exposure sites resulted in two supermarkets in Brimbank temporarily closing.
The Sunshine Marketplace Woolworths store closed on Friday due to a lack of staff, while one of the Watergardens Woolworths stores was closed over the weekend.
The Marketplace store has reopened with reduced hours.
There are currently exposure sites in Braybrook, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Delahey, Derrimut, Keilor, Sunshine North, Sydenham, Taylors Lakes, Taylors Hill and Tullamarine.
The cases come as a vaccine blitz began on Monday.
The state government last week announced that all authorised workers will need to have at least one dose of the vaccine by October 15 to continue to work on site.
Earlier deadlines set for some industries such as construction and education remain in place.
Among the industries listed on the authorised workers list includes, health services, funeral and marriage celebrants, emergency service workers both paid and voluntary, retail workers supporting the operation of click and collect, maternal and child health care workers, politicians and staff who have been working in offices.
The Sunshine Hospital is one of 11 locations where authorised workers can walk up to get Moderna between October 4 and 10 as part of the blitz.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there are more than one million authorised workers in the state, with many already fully vaccinated.
“All of our health workers are working their guts out to be there for us and they need us all to do our bit and get vaccinated, so we can continue on our pathway to opening,” he said.
