Victoria has recorded 41 more cases of coronavirus overnight, including 15 more cases of community transmission.
Key points:
- An emergency alert has been sent to people in Keilor Downs and Broadmeadows to tell them how to get tested
- Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said it was not necessary to make testing for people in hotel quarantine compulsory
- She said a lack of testing was not the reason "cases and outbreaks" of the virus had stemmed from some hotels being used to house returned travellers
It takes the number of cases of COVID-19 in the state to 1,987.
There are 19 cases under investigation, meaning health authorities do not yet know the source of infection.
Eight cases are linked to known outbreaks and one was detected in hotel quarantine.
Of the cases linked to known outbreaks, three are linked to a family in North Melbourne.
One is linked to the Wollert outbreak, two are linked to Albanvale Primary School, one is linked to the Stamford Plaza and one is linked to the family outbreak in Keilor Downs.
All cases except one are close contacts of people in the known outbreaks and were all in self-quarantine when they were diagnosed.
Thirteen cases have been detected through routine testing.
One case was reclassified to Victoria's case load after an investigation by health authorities yesterday.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said almost 22,000 people have been tested since yesterday as a testing blitz begins in Melbourne's six hotspots.
"An emergency alert has been sent to people in Keilor Downs and Broadmeadows to let them know there are testing vans and door knockers and expanded community engagement teams in their area, and to please get tested," Dr van Diemen said.
Dr van Diemen said health authorities were "very concerned" about the consistent increase in daily cases of COVID-19.
On Thursday, the Government announced a new suburban testing blitz which aims to do 100,000 tests across a number of suburbs where there has been a worrying spike in cases.
The testing blitz will apply to everyone regardless if they have symptoms or not.
A 'second peak' is emerging in Victoria
Dr van Diemen said the 19 cases under investigation involved "a number of schools".
She said she did not have the names of the schools and naming them was not necessary anyway because they were closed for the holidays.
"Any close contacts in those schools will be contacted," she said.
Dr van Diemen would not say whether the recent surge in new cases was the beginning of a second wave.
"When you look at our overall epidemiological curve there will be … a second peak," she said.
Victoria will not implement mandatory hotel quarantine testing
At a press conference on Friday, Dr van Diemen said about 30 per cent of people in hotel quarantine were refusing to be tested.
A similar trend was seen in NSW, leading health authorities to declare anyone in hotel quarantine who refused a test on day 10 to face a 10-day extension to their stay.
But Dr van Diemen said that was not necessary in Victoria.
"We have a testing program in our hotels … we would like as many people as possible in that program to be tested. Our preference is for people to be detained for the least amount of time as possible," she said.
Dr van Diemen said a lack of testing was not the reason "cases and outbreaks" of the virus had stemmed from "some breaches in security" at quarantine hotels.
"Those are infection control issues that are being addressed and have been addressed."
"We're just not seeing them."
Dr van Diemen said efforts were being focused on "where we're seeing cases".
"Where we're seeing cases is in these hotspot suburbs," she said.
Up to 200 people had been diagnosed with the virus out of about 19,000 people who had been required to go into mandatory hotel quarantine after returning from overseas.
She said the new cases were "predominantly in those inner north-west corridor suburbs".
Dr van Diemen said Victoria's testing regime was on day three and day 11.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) review found people should be tested between day 10 and 13, she said.
"The review of the evidence showed the vast vast majority of the people … will come up positive by day 10. The 14 days is already a conservative day to make sure absolutely everybody is captured in those days."
Black Lives Matter protest did not begin 'any cluster'
Dr van Diemen said the evidence so far showed the Black Lives Matter protest in June "was not the seeding event of any cluster".
She said it was a coincidence that two people working at H&M at Northland Shopping Centre had contracted the virus and also been in contact with someone with the virus who was at the Black Lives Matter protest last month.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTI3L3ZpY3RvcmlhLWNhc2VzLW9mLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWluLWhvdHNwb3RzLWluY3JlYXNlcy8xMjM5OTg3MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjM5OTg3Mg?oc=5
2020-06-27 06:57:36Z
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