Fears that the Victorian spike in COVID-19 infections heralds a second wave of the pandemic should not slow down the reopening of the national economy.

The increase in infections recorded in Victoria is concentrated in six hotspot suburbs in northern and western Melbourne, and is mainly linked to virus clusters associated with a few family gatherings within certain ethnic communities. This is the kind of localised community transmission that was perhaps inevitable due to social distancing behavioural lapses as the health restrictions were eased.