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INSIDE:
■ Letters to the Editor | page 4 ■ 7 Day TV Guide | page 23 ■ Classifieds | pages 20,21+22 /SheppartonAdviser
PUT THE GV FIRST, SHOP LOCALLY
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No 1:1531
BOOKS BROUGHT TO LIFE
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CRISIS BRINGS OUT GENEROSITY
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FROM MARKET TO MAINSTREET
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020
Regional Victoria gets slight easing of restrictions SHEPPARTON’S ‘COVID moment’ last week has not prevented regional Victoria from benefitting from low rolling case numbers, with a further loosening of restrictions coming into effect from midnight last Sunday. From this week, regional Victorians remain in the so-called ‘Third Step’, however there are fewer restrictions surrounding the hospitality sector. Continued on page 8 TAKING CARE OF THE QUEUE... Staff from GV Health distributed water among the hundreds of people waiting to get tested for COVID-19. Photo: Steve Hutcheson
Shepparton shows its stuff By Steve Hutcheson FACED with the announcement that three people had tested positive to the COVID-19 and a number of locations around Shepparton were considered hot spots, the people of the city turned out in their thousands to get tested and stop the spread of the virus dead in its tracks. The challenge for GV Health and the authorities was how to deal with such a positive yet massive response. In the end, on the Wednesday, they were overwhelmed and many people, including
myself, after standing in line for several hours, were told to come back the following day. In total, across all locations in the Goulburn Valley, between Wednesday and Sunday, 6,323 people were tested for the virus. The authorities managed to bring in a number of additional testing stations to take the load off but even so, queues were still long. At GV Health, after arriving at 8.30am in the morning, I still faced a six and half hour wait before it came time to tickle my nose. I was finally out of there by 3.00pm. Continued on page 10