NO NEED TO LOCK DOWN
Virus numbers swell but Dan says ... ■ 10 new cases in one day ■ Patient in Geelong ICU ■ Colac cluster growing ■ Two primary schools closed
LOCAL schools, a child care centre and a popular CBD cafe were all linked to active coronavirus cases on Monday, as the region reported a further 10 active cases.
A Clonard College student was last night reported to have contracted the disease, while Drysdale and Grovedale West primary schools closed to students on Monday.
However Premier Daniel Andrews said the influx of cases did not warrant stage 3 lockdown restrictions such as those currently enforced across Melbourne.
A NORTH Geelong company will make three million face masks for Victoria’s fight against coronavirus.
Care Essentials is rapidly ramping up production to meet the major state government contract announced on Monday.
The company is set to add 30 staff to its recent 10 recruits to help meet the demand.
Managing director Abhay Sinha said each and every member of the Care Essentials team was contributing to fulfil the order.
“We appreciate how critically important it is for us to supply masks to the community and our healthcare workers,” Mr Sinha said.
“There is an urgent requirement to supply high-quality masks and we are very lucky to get the opportunity to play our part.”
As Melbourne prepares for mandatory wearing of face masks, the Andrews government has placed orders for 23 million single-use masks to be distributed while orders for 1.37 million reusable fabric masks are filled.
The Care Essentials contract is the largest of the state’s orders for locally-made singleuse masks.
A little more than a week ago the company unveiled two new automated machines that can make levels 3, 2 and 1 surgical masks and P2/N95 respirators, but at that time it didn’t have any major contracts.
However, by the end of this week, it is planning for the state-of-the-art equipment to be running 24/7.
“We have hired additional staff, several of whom were previously employed at Geelong manufacturing giants like Ford and Carbon Revolution,” Mr Sinha said.
“The high quality of the talent pool available in this area is incredible; they are highly skilled and very hardworking.”
Mr Sinha said thanks to the new contract, the company had now ordered another machine for mask making, which it aimed to have installed by mid-August.
“This will allow us to supply at a much faster speed,” he said.
“There are many customers who have shown so much support and interest in buying masks from us, and we have not been able to supply to them as our capacity is fully booked. But with this additional machine, we hope to be able to serve all customers.”
A manufacturer of surgical warming blankets and warming machines, Care Essentials was last year named Australia’s regional exporter of the year.