Mr Andrews said the record numbers will not necessarily resign Victoria to tighter stage four restrictions, after stage three lockdown restrictions were introduced in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire last Wednesday night.
"We have made the point with these stay at home restrictions only a week old, it will take some time to bring stability to the numbers and start to see a pattern where they are driven down," the Premier said.
"The life cycle of this virus means that actions you take today, the impacts ... are not clear or well known or understood or reflected in data for at least a week, and to be safe, really, two weeks' time. That's why this is a six-week stay at home lockdown. That's three full life cycles of this virus."
However, both Chief Health Officer Professor Sutton and Mr Andrews have previously warned that if Victoria's numbers do not decrease in the coming days, an escalation to stage four restrictions could be possible.
"Now, I know there's been a lot of discussion, a lot written and said about possible stage four," Mr Andrews said.
"There are no announcements to be made about that today. That shouldn't be read to mean there will be announcements made tomorrow. We plan for every single contingency. It's too early for us to be moving to a whole new stage. This is in the hands of every single Victorian, though.
"If you want to make that less likely, you want to get out of these sort of restrictions as fast as possible, then we all have to play our part and not rely on our doctors and nurses as the last line of ultimate defence against this virus, but instead acknowledge we're the ones on the front-line. "
Professor Sutton said he expected Victoria's numbers to plateau as a result of the stage three restrictions in the next "couple of days".
"But we cannot be complacent and expect that's going to happen automatically," the Chief Health Officer said.
Victoria has 27 aged care outbreaks and Professor Sutton said the idea that 29 deaths in Victoria was little compared to an average flu season was "absurd".
"The idea that 29 deaths is nothing, and that we can lift all restrictions and that we can let it run, is absurd," he said.
"It's an exponential growth in cases when there aren't restrictions in place. If we can drive numbers right down, and if we can follow them through a test and trace procedure, we can avoid all the worst outcomes of this virus."
The government will pause all category three elective surgery, such as hip and knee replacements, at metropolitan Melbourne hospitals in preparation for a surge of coronavirus patients.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said more than 1000 spaces for ICU beds in Victoria have been created or upgraded since the start of the pandemic as part of a $1.9 billion government investment. Professor Sutton said on Wednesday that Victoria’s surge capacity for intensive care is up to about 2000 beds.
The old Peter Mac cancer centre has undergone a $30 million refurbished into an 84-bed intensive care department and Ms Mikakos said it will be renamed to St Vincent’s on the Park, which will be managed by the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital.
Thursday's net tally increased by 302, after 15 previous cases were reclassified.
Professor Sutton said Wednesday's tally showed "relative stabilisation" but said at least a week of consistent numbers would be a sign Victoria had turned a corner.
Victoria's previous largest day was 288 last Friday, which Professor Sutton labelled "pretty ugly".
More to come.
Michael is a state political reporter for The Age.
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2020-07-16 01:17:00Z
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