Altona North and Avondale Heights rate high on coronavirus susceptibility index
Several western suburbs are among Melbourne’s most vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks, based on age and chronic health conditions. With lockdown restrictions starting to ease, find out the risk where you live.
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Altona North and Avondale Heights are in the top 20 Melbourne communities predicted to be the worst affected during a coronavirus outbreak, new research reveals.
The data released by consulting group Finity and the University of New South Wales comes as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews today announced his cautious plan for easing lockdown restrictions.
The COVID-19 Susceptibility Index: gives suburbs a score between one and 100 and rates each area higher according to how vulnerable residents are to the virus, taking into account age, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and lung disease.
There’s currently 44 live coronavirus cases in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
On May 11, Brimbank had 16 live cases recorded, Wyndham 13, Melton seven, Maribyrnong five and Hobsons Bay three.
So far the city’s west has recorded 165 of Victoria’s 1487 cases, with 58 in Brimbank, 47 in Wyndham, 27 in Melton, 18 in Hobsons Bay and 15 in Maribyrnong.
Melbourne and Sydney are predicted to be the cities hardest hit.
Altona North has the highest rating in the western suburbs at 78, Avondale Heights is at 64 and Keilor East is at 54.
St Albans, Ardeer, Sunshine West, Altona and Williamstown all have ratings between 40-50.
Finity lead researcher Aaron Cutter said the index would help government policy decisions for kickstarting the economy.
“When a vaccine becomes available, the index could be used to prioritise those more vulnerable communities,” Mr Cutter said.
“We want to put as much relevant info in front of the policy makers as we can.”
The index shows overwhelmingly that COVID-19 will “impact unevenly” across different suburbs, Mr Cutter said.
“The vulnerable population segments are generally situated away from capital cities,” he said.
“While the initial wave of COVID-19 cases was concentrated around capital cities due to population density plus proximity to cruise ships and international airports, these areas consist of lower proportions of highly susceptible individuals compared to the rest of Australia.”
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