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To determine if changes to communitybased services have effected paediatric ED attendances for mental health issues and neonates during the COVID19 pandemic.

Analysis of total presentations, presentations with a mental health diagnoses and presentation of neonates during the early stages of the pandemic compared with the previous year for four Victorian hospitals.

There was a 47.2% decrease in total presentations compared with 2019, with a 35% increase in mental health diagnoses and a 2% increase in neonatal presentations.

Vulnerable paediatric patients are seeking care elsewhere during the pandemic because of the closure of community services.