Wednesday, 27 May, 2020
Pakenham
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School back balls ‘n’ all
Grade 1 student Xavier was keen to spend recess with his friends at school. 209080 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
By Mitchell Clarke Students from across the region have begun their return to the classroom after a long stint of home learning. Preps, Grade 1 and 2 students joined Year 11 and 12 students in starting back to ‘normal’ learning from Tuesday 26 May, with staggered starts in place for other year levels. Since the beginning of Term 2, the majority of students across the shire have been learning remotely, limiting the number of people on campus amid the Covid-19 pandemic, to help slow the spread of the virus. Education Minister James Merlino said remote learning “hadn’t been easy“ but said principals, teachers, support staff, students and families responded to the challenge. See full story on page 4.
Cluster in church By Brendan Rees A Berwick pastor is currently in hospital fighting the coronavirus following a trip to South Africa in March - which also led to the death of a family member who contracted the virus. Pastor Michael Rojales was in a coma for two weeks upon his return to Australia after travelling to Cape Town for a study tour with four other pastors from the Berwick Church of Christ, according to a source from the church. “His kidney basically closed down and at one stage he only had two per cent,” the source said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “(He’s) still in corona wards - he hasn’t been
he said, had been “still a bit sleepy” following their trip from 8-19 March. “At that stage we could really see Michael was doing it tough and we are still trusting in god for Michael’s miracle,” Pastor Braam said, adding “thank god he has been healing up and it’s going better with him”. “Then I had some symptoms that wasn’t the typical symptoms,” Pastor Braam said. “I had the headaches which was quite severe. I could feel that something in my chest wasn’t right, but there was no cough, there was no phlegm produced, it was just the headaches and the fever that was intense. - Continued page 4
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Of the five pastors who travelled to Cape Town, four are back working at the church two of whom were infected with the virus, the source said. It comes as Pastor Braam Botha spoke of his “desperate physical state” after being diagnosed with Covid-19 following the trip to Cape Town with the group of pastors. Speaking in a video streamed to the Berwick Church of Christ Facebook page, Pastor Braam revealed Pastor Michael “was doing it tough” on their return flight home. He explained their flight times had changed but nonetheless all five were flown back to Australia’s before the borders were closed. Information about the virus at this stage,
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let out to go to rehab yet.” The source also revealed Pastor Michael’s mother-in-law died after contracting Covid-19 while his mother was also infected but had since recovered after being admitted to hospital. “The funeral was happening while he was still in a coma so I believe, which is pretty tough, and he’s got an 18-year-old-daughter,” the source said. The wife of Pastor Mat Daniels, who was “least affected” by Covid-19, also contracted the virus. Asked whether other members of the church had contracted Covid-19, the source said: “Not that I’m aware of.”
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