Launceston's vulnerable and at-risk community will receive additional support from the Salvation Army after the state government announced it would provide further funding for the organisation's COVID support program.
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Speaking on Sunday, Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced people being impacted by COVID, including those in isolation, caring for a positive case and close contacts, would have access to a range of supports.
He said the Salvation Army was being provided with the funding to ensure it could continue providing support to those in need.
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Salvation Army manager Stacey Milbourne said the funds were invaluable for the organisation, which was providing for a broad range of community members dealing with COVID, including making food and medicine deliveries.
Ms Milbourne said COVID had placed an extra strain on the charity's resources, but the Salvation Army had been lucky enough to receive the state funding.
She said since the border had opened, the organisation has provided some form of COVID support to over 200 people through its various programs.
Last week, St Vincent de Paul Tasmania chief executive Lara Alexander emphasised the need for the government to help fund PPE and RATs for community support groups without the organisations having to incur the cost themselves.
Mr Rockliff said in addition to the funding for the Salvation Army the government had allocated funds to support essential community workers and volunteers.
He said the additional funds would be used to purchase RATs, masks and PPE and would be distributed by the Tasmanian Council of Social Service.
To ensure the community care sector could continue to provide support, he said organisations could contact Worksafe Tasmania to receive an initial allocation of RATs for essential workers.
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Sunday's COVID statistics from the Department of Health confirmed rapid antigen tests were now the main form of diagnosing COVID-19, with 580 positive cases confirmed through RATs, and 245 completed through PCR testing.
The total number of lab tests processed fell slightly to 1980, as did the number of RATs handed out in the past 24 hours, falling from 9554 on Saturday to 4876 on Sunday.
Andrew Chounding is The Examiner's Health Reporter, if you have a health-related story please email Andrew.chounding@examiner.com.au
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