COVID-19: Child under 10 becomes the youngest Australian to die

Covid-19 took the life of Australia's youngest child, a Victorian kid under the age of ten. On Saturday, Victoria reported 1,166 new coronavirus infections and five new deaths, one of which was a kid. According to the Victorian health department, the kid had additional significant comorbidities. the Victorian Health Department said in a statement,

The child aged under 10 years, who died with COVID-19, also had other serious comorbidities.

Osama Suduh, a 15-year-old from southwest Sydney, had previously been the youngest person in Australia to die from the virus. Although he was COVID-positive, he died in August only after developing pneumococcal meningitis. It is the first death of a person that age in Australia since the pandemic began, with only one other COVID-related fatality under the age of 19.

Anti-Vaccination Rallies

Thousands of people rallied in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday to protest against its controversial pandemic laws and mandatory Covid-19 vaccine regulations. The protesters included individuals who oppose vaccine mandates, and the state proposed pandemic laws, which were halted in the upper house this week.

They screamed 'kill the bill' while waving placards with anti-government and anti-vaccine mandate slogans while being watched by police outside parliament house. Independent MP Catherine Cumming led a cry of ‘no more mandates’ and ‘sack (Premier) Dan Andrews’ after saying she would vote for the pandemic bill provided the government dropped vaccine mandates. In her speech, she said,

We are adults. We make our own decisions for our children. Get out of our lives Daniel.

After marching to Flagstaff Gardens, the gathering had expanded as a band played John Farnham's You're the Voice. Further, a tiny counter-demonstration at the neighbouring Eight Hour Day Monument drew hundreds of people but did not conflict with other demonstrators. Before dispersing at 2 p.m., the crowd marched down to Lygon St and heard speeches.

New rules

While protestors rallied against the existing laws and rules, new NT rules will come into effect for Victorians from Monday. This would include a reduction of the home quarantine period and would require all new arrivals to be fully vaccinated. The Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner said,

Unvaccinated people from green zones are more at risk to us than fully vaccinated people from red sides.

The number of cases in Victoria has decreased slightly, with 1166 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 9581. Over 90 per cent of Victoria's population over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated.