Melbourne's tower hotspot locked down

Patrick Durkin and Tom Burton

Jul 9, 2020 – 7.03pm

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A public housing tower in North Melbourne, just four kilometres from the city centre, has been identified as a virus hotspot, as Victoria's COVID-19 outbreak grew by 165 cases and spread to aged care workers and frontline healthcare staff.

The 165 new cases in Victoria's daily update do not include 47 additional cases (158 in total) in nine public housing towers revealed late on Thursday, which suggest Friday's update is likely to be the state's worst ever day and break the record of 191 daily cases set only on Tuesday.

Patrick Durkin is Melbourne bureau chief and BOSS deputy editor. He writes on news, business and leadership.

Tom Burton has held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Mandarin, The Sydney Morning Herald and as Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review. He has won three Walkley awards.