It’s finally Friday, which means no more lockdown for Melbourne!
It’s Matilda Boseley here, and rather than leave my house and take advantage of my newfound freedom, I’m excited to man the blog, and see out the week of news with you.
Although it must be said, it isn’t all good news today.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has reported a 52-year-old NSW woman died from a blood clot in the brain, making her the second person to do so out of 3.6m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine delivered.
Of the 48 confirmed and probable cases of people who have developed clots after receiving the vaccine, 31 have been discharged from hospital and are recovering. Fifteen remain in hospital.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly says Australia is getting very good at diagnosing and treating the condition, reducing the chances a blood clotting incident would be fatal.
We will continue to learn from these unfortunate circumstances and will tie it into advice to all practitioners.
Kelly urged people to be informed about the early symptoms of the extremely rare condition, but not be dissuaded from coming forward to get the jab.
Down south, the wild weather in Victorian that yesterday left more than 200,000 people without power, has claimed the life of one man, and put two volunteers in hospital.
Police confirmed on Thursday evening that a man, thought to be in his 60s, was found dead at Woodside in South Gippsland.
A member of the public on Thursday afternoon alerted emergency services to a vehicle “almost submerged” in floodwaters, police said in a statement. Officers attended the scene and confirmed that a man had died.
The circumstances of his death are being investigated and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Two SES members were also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after separate tree-related incidents.
The massive clean up effort will continue today as the state experiences the tail end of the wild weather event.
Okay, with that why don’t we jump into the day.
If there is something you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog but isn’t, shoot me a message on Twitter @MatildaBoseley or email me at matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.
