The growing urgency among residents of Shepparton over the potential spread of COVID-19 within the local community reminds us that even though we have doe so much to recover from the earlier waves of the virus, it is still never far away.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Those important health messages about wearing a mask, washing your hands and practicing safe social distancing might have started to seem a bit abstract or unnecessary - but as recent events have sadly demonstrated, we know that's not the case.
READ MORE:
The upswing in case numbers across regional Victoria comes as NSW numbers peaked higher than those in our own state for the second day in a row. It's hardly a cause for celebration, but it shows how much work there remains for us to overcome the pandemic.
Health professionals from our region, and from adjoining Ballarat, have joined the influx of workers committed to determining the full extent of the Shepparton outbreak, lest it continue to spread even further.
Make no mistake, Shepparton's battle is ours as well, because if the virus is not stopped, it the relevant contacts are not identified, and if hot spots are not confirmed, the problem will inevitably get worse, and quickly.
Despite the new cases - which number less than a handful at this moment, regional Victoria again stands on the cusp of more reductions to the restrictions we have grown accustomed to, and which we know we will continue to have in our lives for the foreseeable future.
There's growing commentary that the actual virus itself, while causing so much heartache and concern, is at risk of being overtaken by the consequential impacts we are imposing upon ourselves to try and defeat coronavirus. Whether that's the mental health fallout, the economic damage, the social disruption or whatever effect the pandemic and the relevant restrictions have had, we need to adjust the dial, somehow, some way and soon.