Coronavirus Victoria: Community transmission fear as cases pass 4000

Two more Victorians have died from coronavirus as the state passed a grim milestone with confirmed cases now more than 4000.

Two more people have died from coronavirus in Victoria, taking the state’s death toll to 26 since the start of the pandemic.

A woman and man, both aged in their 80s, died in hospital.

It comes as Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton warned the number of coronavirus patients in hospital could rise by “hundreds” over the next fortnight.

Victoria recorded 270 new cases of coronavirus, taking the state’s total to 4224.

More than 240 of the new cases are still under investigation, while 28 have been linked to outbreaks. There are 1803 active cases in Victoria.

The number of Victorians in hospital fighting the virus continues to grow with 85 in medical care, including 26 in intensive care, an increase of nine from Monday.

Professor Sutton said 21 intensive care patients were on ventilators.

Almost 22,000 tests were conducted on Monday, with more than 1.17 millions Victorians tested since January 1.

Health authorities are continuing to face an uphill battle containing community transmission with more than 750 cases with an unknown source.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed on Tuesday that private sector employees from Medibank, Qantas and Jetstar were being deployed to help the health department respond to the virus.

He said the Government was also in discussions to train bank staff to help respond to the health crisis.

He said the private sector workers would assist in taking and making phone calls and doing the follow-up work to help ease the burden on the Department of Health and Human Services.

“As the task grows, the team needs to grow as well,” Mr Andrews said.

“Pre-emptively, I think where we'll get to is to train up a whole range of staff from our banks, not to use right now, but in the event for either fatigue management or if the task continues to grow, for them to be potentially deployed in some weeks time.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has urged the public to adhere to lockdown laws. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Mr Andrews said 1000 additional Australian Defence Force personnel would also join the fight over the next three to four weeks.

Prof Sutton warned Victorians not to become complacent about numbers on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s a bigger number than yesterday, it’s not as high as our biggest single day, but we haven’t turned the corner yet,” he said.

“I hope to see that this week, but there are no guarantees. We have to rely on everyone doing the right thing in order to drive numbers down.”

Mr Andrews has urged the public to adhere to lockdown laws or risk an extension to stage four restrictions.

“I don't want to see a situation where some Victorians make bad choices and we essentially have to rely upon our nurses and doctors as the last line of defence,” he said.

“We know they're equal to that task but even so, with their skill, their care, their compassion, if this gets right away from us, then obviously no health system can properly cope.

“There would always be enormous pressure, we can't leave it to them, we’ve got to, in many respects, thank them for the work they do by all of us following the rules.

“To those who aren't doing the right thing, you’ve got to improve your behaviour, make better choices, for you, your family and the entire community. The alternative is not acceptable to any of us and you will be fined if you are doing the wrong thing.”

It comes as Prof Sutton revealed on Monday that Melbourne’s lower socio-economic communities were being hit harder as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

The health department has confirmed 242 cases are residents of the public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, while another 32 people from the buildings in Carlton have contracted the virus.

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Originally published as Coronavirus Victoria: Community transmission fear as cases pass 4000