Melbourne re-enters lockdown after coronavirus cases jump
The Australian state of Victoria has recorded its highest one day increase in coronavirus cases, sending the city of Melbourne back into a six-week lockdown.
Victoria recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus infections, with 191 new confirmed cases.
The Victorian premier, David Andrews, announced that all those living in the Melbourne metropolitan area and Mitchell Shire municipality would be affected by reimposed restrictions until 11:59pm on Wednesday 19 August.
Residents can now only leave their homes for work, education, exercise, for necessary goods or services or for compassionate reasons.
Andrews referred to the spike in cases in Melbourne and said it was unsustainable to keep the current restrictions in place.
“These are unsustainably high numbers of new cases” he said. “It is simply impossible with case rates at this level to have enough contact tracing staff, to have enough physical resources, no matter where they come from, no matter what uniform they wear, in order to continue to suppress and contain this virus without taking significant steps.”
“If we were to fail to take those steps, then it won’t be a couple of hundred cases per day, it will be many more than that and will spiral well and truly out of control,” he added.
Out of the total cases since coronavirus first emerged in the state, 2,469 cases have come from metropolitan Melbourne and 261 are from regional Victoria.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, noted that there were about 5,000 close contacts currently being monitored by health officials.
Of the new cases, 37 are currently linked to known outbreaks, and 154 are under investigation. No cases have been found to have come from returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
There are now 772 active cases in Victoria, and 438 cases that could indicate community transmission has occurred. There are 35 people in hospital presently, including nine in intensive care.
Of all the coronavirus cases announced on Tuesday, 13 are linked to outbreaks in the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers. The total number of cases from those buildings has now hit 69.
Twelve of the new cases were linked to the Al-Taqwa college outbreak, with that total now sitting at 90.
Additionally, there have been a total of four new cases linked to the Northern hospital in Epping, with the total now nine from that cluster – made up of eight health staff and one household contact of a staff member.
A new case has also been confirmed in a staff member at the Assisi aged care facility in Rosanna.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to provide an extra 260 Australian defence force personnel to Victoria to help police set up road checks around the metropolitan edges of Melbourne.
The New South Wales police commissioner, Mick Fuller, said 650 police were on their way to the border crossings of Victoria as the border is closed from midnight to prevent virus from spreading into the neighbouring state.