By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Councillors are pushing for mandatory vaccination and rapid Covid-testing at Greater Dandenong Council meetings after two councillors recently tested positive.
Cr Loi Truong spent at least three days in hospital on oxygen support after falling ill on 5 October.
Vaccinated with a single Moderna dose, he believed he’d caught Covid from a customer at his Springvale South milk bar.
He told Star Journal that he felt “very bad” with coughing, sneezing and breathing difficulties.
He was taken to Monash Medical Centre due to his oxygen levels dropping to 92 per cent.
It’s emerged that Cr Tim Dark’s positive Covid test occurred three days after attending the council offices on 20 September.
This was outside what’s considered the 48-hour infectious period.
But his positive result prompted Mayor Angela Long and chief executive John Bennie, both with underlying health conditions, to get Covid-tested.
They occupied the same suite of offices on the same day as Cr Dark.
They both tested negative.
Two of Cr Dark’s workmates at Richardson French real estate tested positive for Covid later that week.
During lockdown, councillors have been required to log into public online council meetings from home.
Cr Rhonda Garad said a group of councillors requested a “comprehensive return to work plan” for the resumption of in-person council meetings.
They requested rapid Covid testing and the exclusion of unvaccinated catering and security staff, council officers and councillors from council meetings, she said.
The “hardline” approach was necessary to protect the safety of councillors, staff and at-risk family members.
“There’s a need to show leadership and protect all councillors.
“Increasingly we’ll see this vaccination apartheid and that’s absolutely correct. No one has the right to make someone else ill.
“There’s very few categories who can’t be vaccinated.”
Under the CHO directions, authorised workers will be required to be first-dose vaccinated by 15 October, and fully vaccinated by 26 November.
However there’s conjecture on whether councillors are ‘authorised workers’.
Cr Dark, who has a period of natural immunity after being infected, said councillors weren’t authorised workers under the state guidelines.
“I know the majority of councillors aren’t clear on it.
“I believe it’s up to each individual person whether they do or do not get the vaccine.”
There’s also been conjecture over whether Cr Dark should have been allowed in council offices during lockdown.
All staff require a permit to work in the council building to deliver “essential services” to the community during lockdown.
In a statement, Cr Dark said: “I was authorised to enter the council building to pick up IT equipment and sign off on my Annual Return (which is required).”
Chief executive John Bennie said it was “publicly reported that Cr Dark confirmed he had not been in the office in the 48 hours prior to testing positive to Covid 19 and had not visited or interacted with any councillors or staff during this time”.
“Cr Dark may have entered Council facilities but has not infected any staff from Council.
“All information to hand has given Council the confidence that the implementation of our Covid Safe plan has been sufficient.”
The Covid Safe plan includes a daily cleaning schedule and strict visitor protocols including sanitising hands, wearing a mask and scanning the Services Vic QR code, Mr Bennie said.
“To keep our community safe we support the State Government’s efforts and encourage everyone in our municipality to get vaccinated.”
Cr Long said she had a work permit to be in the office.
She said she saw Cr Dark working in a separate office. While going out, she walked across the same room while he was there.
She got tested on the “slim chance” that she may be infected.
“We don’t know how far the infectious space is, but with this Delta variant it’s a lot worse.”
Cr Long anticipated a tightening of the permit system in an upcoming return-to-work ‘vaccination policy’ for councillors and staff.
“We were lucky that Cr Truong had not been in the building (when infectious).”
