LOIS H. DENNINGTON Certified Practising Accountant
Hospital exposure site THE emergency department at Frankston Hospital has been named a tier one COVID-19 exposure site. A person who presented to the hospital on 3 September subsequently tested positive to COVID-19. Anyone else who was also in the acute area of the department on that day between 12pm and 10.30pm must get tested and isolate for 14 days. A statement from Peninsula Health read “all patients and visitors who were in the Emergency Department during this time are being contacted with this advice. This only applies to the Acute Area of the Emergency Department and excludes the Waiting Room, Fast Track/ Paeds, Extended Care Unit (ECU) and Emergency Short Stay Unit (ESSU).” “The Frankston Emergency Department remains open and is safe for you to visit if you need medical care. We’d like to reassure our community that we have stringent infection prevention and control and COVID-safe measures in place to protect the wellbeing of our patients, visitors and staff.”
Free swim classes
CR Steven Hughes. Picture: Supplied
Councillor suspension begins FRANKSTON councillor Steven Hughes’ suspension is officially underway. Cr Hughes will spend a month out of action after an arbiter decided that his social media posts about council were an act of misconduct. (“Rebel councillor suspended over Facebook posts” The Times 31/8/21). Despite the ruling handed down, Cr Hughes was not directed to make an apology. The final judgement handed down by the arbiter was made public last week. It read that Cr Hughes should not be made to make an apology because the act would be “forced and insincere”. “The respondent has been found to have engaged in four instances of misconduct by breaching the code in four respects. He has failed to accept those findings. He consequently has shown no remorse or insight into his misconduct. It is hoped that a period of one month’s suspension (being the statutory maximum) may help him to comprehend that if he continues to engage in the conduct that led to the findings of misconduct he may be subject to further applications under the act,” the arbiter wrote.
FREE swimming lessons will be offered to young kids later this month to help prevent drowning deaths. In 2020, 12 kids under five-years-old died from drowning in Australia. In a bid to help push that number to zero, local pools are offering free swimming lessons as part of Learn2Swim Week. In Frankston, free lessons will be offered at Core24 Swim School and Save Your Life Survival to children under the age of five. The free lessons run from 25 September to 3 October. If COVID-19 restrictions stop swimming lessons, free vouchers will be handed out. Poolwerx Mount Eliza is also taking part in the initiative. Franchise partners Greg and Kim Weir are encouraging parents to take up the offer. “Swimming is a way of life for most Australians, but sadly we’re still seeing backyard drownings. That is why it is crucial to introduce kids to water safety as early as possible,” they said. To find participating swim schools and sign up visit www.learn2swimweek.com.
Counting race “CITIZEN scientists” in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula can join in Biodiversity Blitz 2021. The challenge, between councils including Casey, Kingston, Mornington Peninsula, and Frankston, aims to list the most species of flora and fauna over September. Citizen scientists can download the iNaturalist app on their smart phones, join the peninsula’s Biodiversity Blitz project group, then head outdoors this month to snap photos of flora and fauna and upload them to the app. “We are running a competition between nine councils on who can record the most species,” Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Despi O’Connor said. “By taking part you’ll be contributing to community science and showing the world the amazing creatures and plants your local area has to offer. Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/bioblitz
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7 September 2021
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