Victoria has recorded just two new Covid-19 cases as one of its top doctors admits the lockdown in Melbourne will continue despite the low number of new infections.
State health officials announced two new cases on Sunday were locally acquired, with aged care facility Arcare later revealing its Maidstone facility in Melbourne’s inner west also had two new infections.
Acting Premier James Merlino said the cases were primary close contacts of existing cases and included a person in their 50s linked to the Port Melbourne finance exposure site and a primary school teacher linked to the West Melbourne cluster.
In the aged care facility, one case is a 79-year-old resident who was staying in a room close to two other residents who previously tested positive to the virus.
‘The resident, who has had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, is asymptomatic but will be transferred to hospital for public health reasons,’ he said.
Victoria has recorded just two new Covid-19 cases with a top doctor admitting the lockdown in Melbourne will continue despite the low number of cases (pictured, people queueing for vaccines on Saturday)
Melbourne will remain in lockdown until Thursday despite officially recording just two new local cases on Sunday
The second is an agency nurse who had been working at the facility on Saturday. They had already received their first dose of the vaccine.
The new cases bring the total number of active cases in the state to 85, with 72 in the Melbourne cluster that has brought the city into lockdown for a fourth time.
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said he doesn’t expect the lockdown in Melbourne – which was extended until Thursday – will be lifted sooner despite the relatively low number of cases.
He said health authorities were still trying to determine the source of the Indian Delta strain outbreak – a highly infectious and contagious variant of the virus.
‘We are still continuing to look at all possibilities, particularly, as you say, I think the Wollert case is now going back quite some time now so I think any hidden transmission from that is probably less likely,’ he said.
Mr Merlino added he would wait for the advice from health authorities before even considering easing restrictions.
‘We know that the Delta variant is 50 per cent more infectious than what we were dealing with last year’ he said.
During a press conference on Sunday, Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said he doesn’t expect the lockdown in Melbourne – which was extended until Thursday – will be lifted sooner in light of the low number of cases
The extension of the state of emergency powers doesn’t necessarily mean lockdown will remain in place until July 1, but gives the government the power to do so
‘The last thing we want to see is this variant of the virus getting out, and becoming uncontrollable.’
The list of exposure sites has also grown to almost 400 with another venue added to the list.
One of the new cases identified had visited Thornbury Market from 10.30am to 11.30am on June 1.
Professor Cheng asked anyone who had been at the venue at the time to immediately get tested.
‘It is a pretty precautionary one because we think the symptoms were on the edge of happening but they are both tier two sites so if you’ve been at either of those, please get tested and isolate,’ he said.
Despite the low number of cases recorded overnight health authorities have extended their state of emergency powers while Melbourne residents have been forced to push through an extended lockdown until Thursday
News of the continuing lockdown has previously drawn heavy criticism from residents and businesses and led them to question when the draconian restrictions will be lifted for good.
Minister for Small Business Jaala Pulford has also held meetings with industry leaders and urged them to start campaigning for their staff to get vaccinated so life can return to normal.
‘Our small businesses have paid a high price keeping the community safe – the best thing we can now do for them is get vaccinated,’ she told Herald Sun.
On Tuesday, Victoria’s under fire Labor government signed off to extend its state of emergency powers for another four weeks – meaning the Andrews regime can hold almost seven million Australians in lockdown until July 1.
Greater Melbourne remains in lockdown with residents and businesses unhappy politicians are sitting back and letting health officers decide what will be done
The extension of the state of emergency powers does not mean lockdown will remain in place until July 1, but it does give the government the power to do so.
On Thursday, when the lockdown is due to end, the government could either decide to extend it – or to ease restrictions as it did for regional Victoria.
Health Minister Martin Foley made the decision to extend the state of emergency after holding talks with Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, who has been described by senior figures in the Victorian government as a ‘catastrophist’.
The Andrews Government, currently helmed by Acting Premier James Merlino, first brought in the state of emergency on March 16, 2020.
It was initially set to remain in place for four weeks, but has since been extended 17 times.
Victoria recorded five new local infections on Saturday, bringing the state’s outbreak to 70 cases
The state emergency was signed off to ‘assist with measures designed to ‘flatten the curve’ of Covid-19 and give our health system the best chance of managing the virus’, Mr Andrews – who is currently on medical leave – said last year.
The powers of the order include ‘detaining people, restricting movement and preventing entry to premises’, through lockdowns, mandatory mask wearing and hotel quarantine.
Mr Foley remained tight lipped about when a decision will be made on extending the state’s lockdown.
‘There is no simple answer,’ he said, when asked about a potential date.
‘Clearly, as we approach next Thursday, the kind of facts we have been going through here, the evidence, what cases (we are) aware (of), either linked or unlinked, have we got the support around them.
‘How we got the evidence that Professor Lewin was talking about, as to knowing where they’ve come from.’
The entire state was first locked down at the end of May for seven days – due to end at the start of winter on June 3 – but just one day before residents planned to return to their semi-normal lives, the government announced Greater Melbourne would be forced to stay locked inside their houses for an additional seven days.
The extension of the state of emergency powers doesn’t mean lockdown will remain in place until July 1, but gives the government the power to do so
With the new Indian ‘Delta’ variant that has wreaked havoc amongst a billion-strong population overseas being detected in the state, residents fear the leading health officers may extend the dreaded lockdown again.
This is despite the highest number of infections on a single day in the latest outbreak, which started on May 4, being 12 – with every other day reporting total community transmission of between three to six cases despite tens of thousands of tests.
During Victoria’s emergency lockdown meeting almost two weeks ago Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews – the North Face-wearing voice of reason throughout the state’s most gruelling 2020 lockdown – was nowhere to be seen, either in person or on Zoom, when it was decided that drastic measures would need to be taken.
As he is still recovering from a spinal injury, Mr Andrews had spoken to Acting Premier James Merlino earlier that day and was waiting for more updates after the meeting concluded.
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Instead it was Prof Sutton who led the fast-paced one hour discussion before it was decided the state would be locked down the following day when cases were linked to the infectious Indian Kappa variant.
The news was understandably a disappointment for the business sector, who were never consulted.
