With about 3,000 residents in nine Melbourne public housing towers ordered to stay in their units for the next five days to try and contain a rise in coronavirus cases, the community has rallied to help.
The Victorian government has announced a suite of assistance packages including a two-week rent reprieve and hardship payments of $1,500 to help cover living costs for employed people, or $750 for people out of work.
The Government will also provide medical support, drug and alcohol support, family violence support and other essential services.
But members of the wider community have also offered their assistance.
Victoria’s Housing Minister Richard Wynne said he had been overwhelmed by the compassion of “so many Victorians”.
“Presently my phone is running off the hook with people saying, ‘How can we help?’.
“From the Lord Mayor of Melbourne to the City o