Eight Melbourne childcare centres were closed for cleaning and contact tracing on Friday, including new cases at The Hive Early Learning Centre in Fairfield and Essendon's Villa Bambini, where a child and a worker respectively tested positive.
Workers and parents are worried some childcare services could collapse with the looming end of fee-free care and JobKeeper payments, as a spate of positive COVID-19 cases forces multiple centres in and around Melbourne's lockdown postcodes to close.
Kim Russell, director of Pooh Bear's House childcare in Croydon North, said the fear throughout the sector is that parents will pull kids out of care due to escalating health fears and financial constraints."With JobKeeper finishing, that will be a real test and with numbers of cases increasing as well families are panicking again," she said."I'm worried about the centres in those hotspots. Support in those areas is so heavily needed.
"We want to confirm your campus will remain open and we welcome all children to attend care as normal," the letter said.Fitzroy childcare worker Ruth Harper said she knew other carers from hotspot suburbs who were worried for their jobs. "When families were initially taking their kids out back in March it was broadly for two reasons; health concerns and financial concerns," she said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Melbourne suburbs Kensington and Flemington could be locked down nextThe Melbourne suburbs of Kensington and Flemington in the 3031 postcode are at risk of going into lockdown as early as next week after being labelled infection hotspots.
Read more »
Coronavirus hotspot arrivals to face mandatory supervised quarantine when NT borders reopenArrivals to the Northern Territory from coronavirus hotspots will be made to foot the bill for mandatory supervised quarantine as the Chief Minister says borders will reopen as planned.
Read more »
States target Victorian travellers to avoid spread of COVID-19A train carrying passengers from Victoria has arrived in Sydney this morning with authorities targeting anyone who may be arriving from one of the state's coronavirus hotspots. 9News
Read more »
Deputy CHO defends self-testing kits delivered in lockdown suburbsA testing expert has also backed the Victorian government’s decision to roll out COVID-19 self-testing kits in hotspot areas, even as questions are raised about their accuracy.
Read more »
Dozens of Queensland nurses rushed to Victoria to bolster emergency responseDozens of Queensland nurses are being rushed to the frontline of Victoria's COVID-19 battle after volunteering to join the emergency response underway in the state. 9News
Read more »
Police move in to secure COVID-19 housing commissions hotspots in Melbourne | Sky News AustraliaPolice have moved into secure the nine public housing towers placed into a five-day mandatory lockdown by the Victorian government amid the state's second major outbreak of COVID-19.\n\nVictorian Premier Daniel Andrews has taken the unprecedented step to lock down 3,000 residents in nine public housing estates in the suburbs of Flemington and North Melbourne for five days from Sunday. \n\nThe extraordinary measures come as Victoria recorded 108 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest since March 28.\n\nAustralia has recorded 113 new cases in last 24 hours, 108 from a Victoria alone, while the other five were in NSW.\n\nSky News Chief Anchor Kieran Gilbert says the Victorian government is considering extending the lockdowns to include parts of the metro area of Melbourne not just the hotspot suburbs.\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »