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Melbourne‘s chances of emerging from its sixth lockdown this week have been dealt another blow after Victoria recorded 20 new cases on Tuesday.
Thousands more Melburnians were also plunged into isolation after dozens of Covid-19 exposure sites were added to the city’s list, which has blown out to 246.
They included two Bunnings stores, a Target, Coles, Woolworths, Myer, Aldi, and Chemist Warehouse.
All of the 20 new cases were locally acquired and linked to known clusters, but all but five of them were in the community while infectious.
Only two cases are in hospital with no one in ICU ‘for the first time in quite some time,’ health minister Martin Foley announced on Tuesday.
There are growing fears Melbourne’s lockdown will be extended beyond midnight Thursday
The number of active cases in Victoria now stands at 111.
Almost 35,000 Victorians came forward for testing on Monday while 22,670 rolled up their sleeves for the Covid vaccine.
Health officials have seen a three-fold increase in first doses of the vaccine administered when compared this time a week ago.
‘I think that … is strong emphasis [that] young people, in particular under 39, want to get vaccinated,’ Mr Foley said.
‘Clearly, young people have assessed their personal situation in a strong and informed manner and many have determined that there are significant risks to remaining unvaccinated during a Delta outbreak.
The number of cases infectious in the community in the next two days is the key to whether Premier Daniel Andrews will release Melbourne from lockdown at 11.59pm on Thursday as planned.
Sources close to the Victorian health department expressed concerns about the risk of a potential super-spreading event if the city was lifted from lockdown too soon, the Herald Sun reported.
If lockdown is extended it might only be for the weekend to restrict social contact, and lift early next week, depending on the number of cases in the interim.
The premier said it was ‘far too soon’ to make a decision about extending lockdown.
‘Things can move rapidly but I just can’t predict what’s going to happen on Thursday… it’s not a tick and flick,’ he told reporters on Monday.
‘It’s a detailed process the government goes through to determine what is proportionate.’
Lockdown restrictions have been lifted in regional Victoria while Melburnians (pictured on Monday) will remain lockdown for another few days at least
Anyone who was at The Coffee Club Cafe at CS Square in Caroline Springs on Auguste 5 between 1-2.30pm is deemed a close contact
Dozens of new exposure sites were released on Monday night, including Myer’s cosmetic and fragrance department at Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong and The Coffee Club Cafe at CS Square, in Caroline Springs, both deemed as close contact sites.
Australian Rules matches played at Shorten Reserve in West Footscray on July 31 are also classified as a tier one site, so anyone at the ground that day must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
Regional Victoria has been released from lockdown after four days of no new cases from the state’s coronavirus outbreak.
‘So that means the five reasons to leave home are no longer relevant, schools will be open again, hospitality venues will be open,’ Mr Andrews said.
‘We don’t want this virus to spread but this is very positive news and speaks to the fact that we do have a degree of containment around these cases.’
All but five of the 20 new cases recorded in Victoria on Tuesday were infectious in the community. Pictured is Flinders Street Station on Monday
Cafes and restaurants in regional Victoria will be able to reopen to diners from Tuesday. Pictured is a hotel in Ballarat
The Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula regions on Melbourne’s outskirts will remain in lockdown, as they are considered part of the metro area.
Residents and business operators in both regions pleaded to be released from lockdown as neither has recorded a single case in more than year.
The town of Garfield, 79 km south-east of Melbourne is also in lockdown as it’s part of the metropolitan council shire of Cardinia, despite never recording a single case of Covid-19.
‘A pony walked into our bar six weeks ago. You just have to step foot in our town to see that we’re so far away from anything that’s considered metropolitan,’ Garfield Hotel owner Brad Alden-Brown told the Herald Sun.
Melburnians are warned to not travel to regional areas when lockdown restrictions are eased in regional Victoria from midnight Tuesday
Private home gatherings are still not allowed in regional Victoria but outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people in public places are permitted.
Face masks will also still be mandatory indoors and outdoors.
Regional residents can now travel more freely but must have a permitted reason to travel to Melbourne and must follow metropolitan restrictions while they’re there.
Melburnians were reminded they cannot travel within the state unless they ‘absolutely have to’ and must have a valid reason.
Mr Andrews said a decision about lockdown wouldn’t be made until later in the week but he understood the community concerns about the uncertainty.
‘That decision will not be made today or tomorrow but as close to that time as possible so we have the most complete picture and the most recent data,’ he said on Monday.
‘I can’t tell you what I’ll be announcing on Wednesday or Thursday… no decision has been made and won’t be today or tomorrow. I wish I knew, I wish I could tell you now.’
‘That is the way it has always been done. As soon as we can give people clarity about what next week looks like we will absolutely do but we will take our time to properly consider not just how many cases but where they were, how long they were out in the community, all of those things.
‘I don’t for a moment pretend is it isn’t frustrating. Everyone wants certainty about what is happening tomorrow, next week, next month.
‘But that isn’t the nature of this global pandemic particularly at virus that is changing, particularly this Delta variant.’
Source: DailyMail AU
