With Victoria preparing to record another day of double-digit case numbers, health authorities are likely to keep the state in lockdown until at least early next week.
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Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to this morning announce an extension to Melbourne’s seven-day lockdown beyond Friday.
It is likely the lockdown will continue until at least early next week.
With the state preparing to record another day of double-digit case numbers, health authorities remain on edge over a growing outbreak in the city’s west, particularly at Caroline Springs.
Just five of the 20 new cases announced on Tuesday were isolating during their infectious period, sparking fears of a further spread of the virus.
Health Minister Martin Foley, who would not be drawn on when the lockdown was expected to end, said the pandemic drove “uncertainty”.
“I don’t know what the future brings. The crystal ball hasn’t fired up lately,” Mr Foley said. “The public health team will make a judgment call on the best and most up-to-date data they have, as closest to the position of having to make that announcement.”
Ten of the new cases on Tuesday were linked to the CS Square shopping centre in Caroline Springs, including two people who may have caught the virus through fleeting transmission.
It comes as contact tracers work to identify anyone who visited the centre, after it was revealed that just over 1 per cent of Monday’s 34,892 tests were conducted in the Caroline Springs area.
Covid commander Jeroen Weimar said: “We need to see more people in the Caroline Springs area coming forward for testing. It’s a busy, important shopping centre.
“But, as we know, the virus does not stop for anybody, and doesn’t stop for any business. It’s our job now to ensure we follow all those chains of transmission and run it to ground in that particular locality.”
The remaining cases include three infections linked to the Newport Football Club, along with another three at Mount Alexander College, two household contacts from the original Newport family cluster, and a student from Al-Taqwa College.
Three of Tuesday’s cases are residents of the Flemington public housing towers, who have been moved to alternative accommodation.
Mr Weimar said he was confident there were more cases in the community that were yet to be found.
The state government wouldn’t reveal the metrics that would allow Melbourne out of lockdown, but the Premier earlier said: “We need to get down to a very low number of cases, if any, that have been out in the community during their infectious period.”
Health Department deputy secretary Kate Matson said she wouldn’t “speculate” on how long that would take.
“We’re still getting in front of this outbreak,” she said.
Former premier Jeff Kennett slammed the government for still pursuing a “zero community infections” outcome.
“There is no middle ground … the government is so scared of committing another failure, they are not only holding the state to ransom, they are destroying many elements of the business,” he said.
It was “sheer, destructive madness” that a quarter of 2020 and 2021 would have been spent in lockdown, Mr Kennett added.
But Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday declared there were no shortcuts to lockdowns, saying they were “important to suppress the virus, so when we get to the next phase we go in stronger, not weaker”.
He flagged his hopes for “families to come together at Christmas and everyone that you hope to be around the table is around the table”.
Of the 111 active cases in Victoria – including 76 linked to current outbreaks – only two people are in hospital and no one is in ICU for the first time in quite some time.
Meanwhile, Mr Foley refused to “unlock” areas on the outer edge of metropolitan Melbourne that had not recorded a Covid case in more than a year. It comes as one new case was detected in Lara, near Geelong, on Tuesday, which is no longer in lockdown.
The person is said to have been in isolation for their infectious period and there are no known exposure sites linked to the case.
But towns on the Mornington Peninsula and in the outer Cardinia Shire and the Yarra Ranges have been begging to be freed from lockdown, in line with regional Victoria.
“There are no plans to change the definition as to what metropolitan Melbourne is,” Mr Foley said.
“I’d ask people in metropolitan Melbourne to look north to Sydney about what happens when geographic local government area-based decisions are made.”
Meanwhile, NSW recorded its worst day yet on Tuesday, with 356 new local infections and three more deaths.
SCHOOL SENT BACK TO REMOTE LEARNING
Bacchus Marsh Grammar will return to online learning on Wednesday with authorities concerned about an infected student’s link to undetected cases in Caroline Springs.
In a letter to parents, Principal Andrew Neal, said Victoria’s chief health officer reached out to the school on Tuesday night, warning the school needed to close.
“As a result of emerging risks today, we are requesting the immediate proactive closure of Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Maddingley Campus,” a statement to the school said.
“This is to manage the increasing risk of a student inadvertently attending while infectious, given the risk of undetected cases in and around Caroline Springs in particular.”
The school was released from lockdown on Tuesday in line with new rules for regional Victoria, with students allowed to return to the classroom.
Mr Neal said he apologised to parents for the disruption.
“That frustration is understandable, however, I would ask you understand that there is a large number of people attempting to do the best for our community,” he said.
DOC’S VIRAL CASE MAY AFFECT PATIENTS
Patients could face disruptions at major Melbourne hospitals after a doctor became one of the state’s latest Covid-19 cases.
The specialist, who works at the Royal Children’s and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospitals as well as in a private clinic, was confirmed to have Covid along with other members of the doctor’s household on Tuesday.
Contact tracers on Tuesday night were still investigating the doctor’s movements and potential impacts on the hospitals and were yet to classify any locations as exposure sites.
The doctor’s most recent clinic at the RCH was on Friday, a day before they are understood to have become infected. The RCH will still test staff and patients who were present at the hospital on Friday as a precaution.
It is understood the doctor had not worked at the Eye and Ear Hospital while infectious.
However, it is understood the doctor had attended a private clinic next door to the RCH at 48 Flemington Rd – a building which also houses other clinics – while infectious.
CALLS FOR SEVEN-DAY A WEEK VAX HUB
A south western council has called on the state government to provide a dedicated seven-day a week vaccination hub for 18 to 39-year-olds, claiming the city’s young people had been ignored.
Wyndham City Mayor, Adele Hegedich, said the majority of her constituents were under the age of 35 and “desperately need access to vaccinations”.
“Currently the closest state-run vaccination hub is in Sunshine or Geelong. If you have young children, as many of our residents do, or you work in casual labour, hopping in your car to travel more than 30 minutes to get a vaccination is just a bridge too far,” she said.
The council said it would write to the Premier and the Minister for Health asking for its share of the 150,000 Pfizer vaccinations allocated to the nine State-run hubs around Greater Melbourne which was announced on Sunday.
“This is a matter of equity and access,” Cr Hegedich said.
“We cannot expect Wyndham residents to rush to get vaccinated when the majority of them have not been eligible and, now that they are, have to drive out of the municipality to receive it.
“It is in the interests of the whole state and in fact the whole country for the state to prioritise access to the vaccine for our young Wyndham residents.”
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2021-08-10 14:46:45Z
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