Melbourne lockdown extended after 20 new Covid cases
There was a heavy police presence but only a small group of protesters at an anti-lockdown rally in the CBD, hours after Premier Daniel Andrews extended Melbourne’s lockdown for a week.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
• This coronavirus article is unlocked and free to read in the interest of community health and safety. Tap here for full digital access to trusted news from the Herald Sun and Leader for just $5 per month for the first three months.
Dozens of police swarmed Flinders Street Station on Wednesday night in anticipation of a planned lockdown protest.
There were few protesters in sight at 6.45pm, with police stopping and asking one man why he wasn’t wearing a mask.
Police arrested two men just after 7pm.
“
F**k Dan Andrews,” one man said as he was led away by police.
Controversial right-wing activist Avi Yemini made his presence known, arguing with police and interviewing the small number of protesters.
One of the protest organisers had earlier posted to Twitter: “We will not comply, no more lockdowns, lockdowns take lives, sack Dan Andrews”.
One car drove past the station, with the driver screaming “freedom”.
Another man was detained for not providing identification to police.
“Just shoot me instead,” he said to officers.
Mounted police chased protesters down Flinders St. @theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/Q8nodfY9J0
— Miles Proust (@MilesProust) August 11, 2021
One man was led away by police. @theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/dNJyUBU2wl
— Miles Proust (@MilesProust) August 11, 2021
Barely any anti-lockdown protesters at Flinders St for the planned 7pm kick-off. @theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/2ttv15miiq
— Miles Proust (@MilesProust) August 11, 2021
Mounted police chased a small group down Flinders St, with protesters scattering down alley ways.
One unmasked man waved a flag which read “don’t tread on me”, a popular phrase among the libertarian and far-right movement.
“There will be a highly visible police presence in the Melbourne CBD, on the roads and across the public transport network this evening to ensure the community is complying with the Chief Health Officer (CHO) directions,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Those who choose to blatantly disregard the CHO’s directions and put the health and safety of all Victorians in jeopardy can expect to be held accountable.”
It comes just six days after 15 protesters were arrested on the eve of the state’s sixth lockdown.
At that protest one police officer was pushed to the ground and kicked while another suffered minor injuries after being struck by a bottle.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said it was clear “hardcore protesters” were not deterred by fines and that it was time they were put before the courts for more serious punishment, including jail time.
MELBOURNE LOCKDOWN EXTENDED FOR 7 DAYS
Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for a further seven days until 11.59pm on Thursday, August 19.
The announcement comes after Victoria recorded 20 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.
Six of the cases were not in quarantine during their infectious period.
Fifteen of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks but five remain under investigation.
Premier Daniel Andrews fronted a news conference at 11am — with chief health officer Brett Sutton and Covid-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar — to announce the extension.
Mr Andrews said: “We have determined to accept the advice of the chief health officer to extend for a further period of seven days, until 11.59pm next Thursday.
“This is very challenging, I know, for every single Victorian who would like to be going about their business.
“They’d like to be open and have a degree of freedom that’s simply not possible because of this Delta variant, the extreme infectivity of this virus and the fact that within a very short space of time we were to open, then we would see cases akin to what’s happening, tragically, in Sydney right now.”
Mr Weimar said five new infections announced on Wednesday were still mystery cases.
But he said contact tracers had good information and were optimistic they could link them to other clusters.
Three of the new cases are a family in the City of Melton while the other two are a father and son in the City of Melbourne.
Mr Andrews said 41,571 test results were received overnight and 98 per cent of test results were being returned within a day.
Of the latest 20 cases:
• Six are linked to Al-Taqwa College
• Five are linked to Mount Alexander College
• Four are linked to Caroline Springs Square Shopping Centre
• Five are not currently linked. They include three from a family in Melton, while the other two are a father and son from the City of Melbourne
The press conference was interrupted by a loud heckler who repeatedly shouted at Mr Andrews for more than 20 minutes.
Parliament security staff intervened, with pictures from the scene showing a man on the ground.
Mr Andrews responded: “Shouting doesn’t work against this virus”.
The man was tackled to the ground by police after he arrived unannounced halfway through the hour-long press conference and began yelling “Premier Daniel Andrews” while police restrained him.
He continued to yell over the top of the Premier while he provided updates on the state’s latest outbreak.
Read the full story here
The Premier also announced that the border bubble with NSW would be further tightened as cases remain high in the state.
From 6pm on Friday, border community residents will need a permit to cross between the two states.
It comes after the bubble was tightened last week, with movement between NSW and Victoria allowed for good and services, care, work, vaccination and organised community sport.
The new permit rules will allow the government to track who is moving over the border.
“We will be doing lots of communications along those border communities so that people know, but it’s not good enough to limit movement,” Mr Andrews said.
“You need to know who’s moving and before anyone says ‘Oh why would you do that?’, if this virus can get from Sydney to Byron Bay, to Dubbo, to Armidale, to Tamworth, then only a fool would think that it couldn’t get to Albury.”
Mr Andrews said he was excited by the number of people seeking vaccine doses under new expansions to who can use state run clinics.
He foreshadowed further government announcements that could allow hundreds of thousands more Victorians to access the jab.
There are nearly 300 exposure sites and more than 12,000 primary close contacts as part of the latest outbreak.
Mr Andrews said it was “simply not possible” to lift the lockdown this Thursday.
“There are simply too many cases and too many cases the origin of which are not clear,” he said.
Mr Andrews said it was concerning they were still finding new mystery cases.
Mr Weimar said there were 118 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria associated with both hotel quarantine and this cluster — 100 associated with the latest two chains of transmission.
“There is one case currently in hospital, not in ICU,” he said.
“We have around 13,800 primary close contacts in total.
“That’s an increase of 1700 from yesterday associated with the ongoing detective work around a number of new sites of exposure.”
Mr Weimar said a section of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital would be listed as a Tier 2 site because of “very limited exposure”.
“We think before the infectious period but again we are taking a very cautious approach with this Delta strain,” he said.
RACE MEET CALLED OFF, SCHOOL CLOSED
A Covid scare has rocked Victorian harness racing forcing Wednesday’s Tabcorp Park Melton meeting to be called off.
Harness Racing Victorian learned a participant who attended the Melton race meeting on Monday, August 2, had subsequently tested positive to the virus.
The Department of Health has also closed a Catholic primary school in North Melbourne and sent hundreds into isolation after a student tested positive to coronavirus.
St Michael’s Primary School has been closed after a year 1 student tested positive.
In a note sent to parents, principal Denise Hussey said the site was being deep cleaned.
“I understand this news will be concerning for many of you. I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to contain and slow the spread of the virus and ensure the health and safety of the whole school community,” she said.
SKYSCRAPER RESIDENTS IN QUARANTINE
A handful of residents from two inner-city apartment complexes will be plunged into quarantine for 14 days, with some of the state’s newest positive cases residing in their buildings.
Covid commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed a father, a worker at Melbourne Children’s Eye Clinic, and his son, a student from St Michael’s Catholic Primary School, live in the City of Melbourne.
Residents on the 28th floor of Vision Apartments at 500 Elizabeth St will most likely be classified as Tier 1 contacts.
A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he received a call from the health department at 8.45pm on Tuesday night.
“I went downstairs and DHHS officers were there. They asked me what floor I was on and I said 28,” he said.
“They said ‘we’re locking your floor down’.”
He said he was officially told early on Wednesday afternoon that he must quarantine until August 23.
“It is what it is, you can’t do anything about it,” he said.
“If I’ve got (Covid), I’d rather not give it to anyone else.”
The resident said he had been desperate for some more information on Wednesday morning, with the health department telling him little.
“I got more info out of Jeroen than I did anyone else.”
He said he would not be able to work from home and would have to apply for a Covid disaster payment.
Health officials arrived at the building on Wednesday morning and will begin testing residents of the 70-storey skyscraper.
“(Residents) will be getting tested today. A lot of activity for us there over the next day or two,” Mr Weimar said.
A notice has been placed at the front of the building.
“We have been classified as a Tier 2 Covid exposure site as a Covid positive case has been (in) the building on August 9,” the notice reads.
“If you have been in the building in the above period, please get tested and isolate until you get a negative result.”
Some residents of the Royal Flagstaff apartment complex in West Melbourne will also be classified as Tier 1 contacts.
Anyone who visited the building from August 6 to 10 – at any time – must get tested urgently and isolate until they receive a negative result, as they are classified as a Tier 2 contact.
NSW CASES CONTINUE TO SOAR
New South Wales announced 344 cases on Wednesday morning and two deaths, including a man aged in his 30s. The city of Dubbo will go into lockdown from 1pm on Wednesday.
Queensland has recorded four new cases as the state prepares to ease lockdown restrictions in Cairns.
AMBULANCE DIVERTED AMID STAFF SHORTAGE
Hundreds of hospital workers have been impacted by the Covid outbreak in Melbourne’s west, forcing the Footscray and Sunshine hospitals to divert ambulances to overcome severe staff shortages.
Western Health Chief Executive Russell Harrison said the hospitals had worked with Ambulance Victoria and the Department of Health to divert most away from Footscray and Sunshine Hospitals for approximately 24 hours.
“As a result of high numbers of community exposure sites across the region where a large number of our staff live, there are now more than 280 staff furloughed across the hospitals and services we run,” he said.
“About 50 of those staff are furloughed due to the exposure sites within the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s at Sunshine Hospital.
“Western Health is working to minimise the impact on patients with the support of other hospitals and health services across the metropolitan network.”
MORE VICTORIAN EVENTS SHOT DOWN
The Avalon Airshow, AFL grand final parade and Melbourne International Film Festival are the latest attractions to be cancelled in another hit to the state’s events industry.
The Herald Sun revealed last week the AFL was considering alternatives to the parade and Footy Festival, including a smaller event at Marvel Stadium, but the league on Tuesday moved to scrap the plans.
“We are really saddened that we are unable to deliver footy fans two of our annual lead-up events to the grand final,” AFL general manager of customer and commercial Kylie Rogers said.
“We have explored every avenue, but anything that involves a parade is difficult to deliver under the current challenges that are associated with the pandemic in the community.”
The cancellation of the grand final parade, airshow and film festival comes after organisers cancelled the Royal Melbourne Show, scheduled for late September, and the Formula 1 Grand Prix in November.
The Aerospace, Maritime, Defence and Security Foundation confirmed on Tuesday that it would cancel the Australian International Airshow 2021, which had already been postponed.
Foundation chief executive, Ian Honnery, said delivering the event would “involve risks of uncertainty for attendees, participants, industry and the Australian public”.
“It is deeply disappointing … that this signature industry trade show and public entertainment spectacular will not proceed.”
Audiences who booked tickets to the MIFF in-cinema screenings will be refunded. Artistic director Al Cossar said: “MIFF’s heart was in a return to cinemas this year. It is with deep sadness and profound frustration that we must take the step of cancelling”.
VIRUS EPICENTRE’S CALL FOR JAB HUB
Community leaders across Melbourne’s west – the epicentre of the state’s latest outbreak – are calling for a “seven-day a week vaccine hub” to speed up the process of protecting people against Covid-19.
Latest federal government data showed Melbourne’s west had the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rate in Victoria with many of the suburbs hardest hit by last year’s outbreak recording vaccination uptake rates well below the national average.
Fewer than 35 per cent of people aged 15 and over living in Melbourne’s west and northwest have had at least their first dose of the vaccine.
WHEN VIC WILL HIT 70 PER CENT JAB RATE
Victorian doctors are administering fewer than half as many vaccine doses as their New South Wales counterparts every day, leaving our state lagging behind in the race to meet the targets to reopen.
Based on current averages, when Victorian reaches the critical mark to limit lockdowns and ease restrictions on the vaccinated has been revealed.
Read the full exclusive story here
SCHOOL BACK TO REMOTE LEARNING
Bacchus Marsh Grammar will return to online learning on Wednesday with authorities concerned about an infected student’s link to undetected cases in Caroline Springs.
In a letter to parents Principal Andrew Neal said Victoria’s chief health officer reached out to the school on Tuesday night, warning the school needed to close.
“As a result of emerging risks today, we are requesting the immediate proactive closure of Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Maddingley Campus,” a statement to the school said.
“This is to manage the increasing risk of a student inadvertently attending while infectious, given the risk of undetected cases in and around Caroline Springs in particular.”
The school was released from lockdown on Tuesday in line with new rules for regional Victoria, with students allowed to return to the classroom.
Mr Neal said he apologised to parents for the disruption.
“That frustration is understandable, however, I would ask you understand that there is a large number of people attempting to do the best for our community,” he said.
DOC’S VIRAL CASE MAY AFFECT PATIENTS
Patients could face disruptions at major Melbourne hospitals after a doctor became one of the state’s latest Covid-19 cases.
The specialist, who works at the Royal Children’s and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospitals as well as in a private clinic, was confirmed to have Covid, along with other members of the doctor’s household on Tuesday.
Contact tracers on Tuesday night were still investigating the doctor’s movements and potential impacts on the hospitals and were yet to classify any locations as exposure sites.
The doctor’s most recent clinic at the RCH was on Friday, a day before they were understood to have become infected. The RCH will still test staff and patients who were present at the hospital on Friday as a precaution.
It is understood the doctor had not worked at the Eye and Ear Hospital while infectious.
However, it is understood the doctor had attended a private clinic next door to the RCH at 48 Flemington Rd – a building which also houses other clinics – while infectious.
CALLS FOR SEVEN-DAY A WEEK VAX HUB
A southwestern council has called on the state government to provide a dedicated seven-day a week vaccination hub for 18 to 39-year-olds, claiming the city’s young people had been ignored.
Wyndham City Mayor Adele Hegedich said the majority of her constituents were under the age of 35 and “desperately need access to vaccinations”.
“Currently the closest state-run vaccination hub is in Sunshine or Geelong. If you have young children, as many of our residents do, or you work in casual labour, hopping in your car to travel more than 30 minutes to get a vaccination is just a bridge too far,” she said.
The council said it would write to the Premier and the Minister for Health asking for its share of the 150,000 Pfizer vaccinations allocated to the nine State-run hubs around Greater Melbourne, which were announced on Sunday.
“This is a matter of equity and access,” Cr Hegedich said.
“We cannot expect Wyndham residents to rush to get vaccinated when the majority of them have not been eligible and, now that they are, have to drive out of the municipality to receive it.
“It is in the interests of the whole state and in fact the whole country for the state to prioritise access to the vaccine for our young Wyndham residents.”
— Addtional reporting by Grant McArthur and Suzan Delibasic
Join the conversation
Health boss who played key role in Victoria’s Covid response stands down
The Department of Health secretary who became a public figure making tough and controversial decisions during the pandemic will depart amid a leadership reshuffle.
Read more
Sutton dragged into legal fight on cancelled Robbie Williams gig
A war of words has broken out about former Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton’s involvement in the decision to pull the pin on Robbie Williams’ Grand Prix concert.
Read more