Victoria records 28 new cases, health authorities continue to monitor Casey cluster
Nearly all of Victoria’s 28 new coronavirus cases have been linked to outbreaks in aged care facilities. The sector has been plagued by PPE shortages, outbreaks and a high mortality rate during the second wave. It comes as positive results in the state’s regional areas could see them reach COVID normal much sooner than Melbourne.
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Victoria has seen a spike in coronavirus cases, with 28 new infections and three deaths recorded overnight.
Of the new cases, 24 have been linked to outbreaks at aged care facilities.
The latest deaths include three women aged in their 70s, 90s and 100s. The state’s death toll now stands at 766.
Another two mystery cases were recorded.
There are 620 active cases across the state, including 74 healthcare workers, 20 in regional Victoria and 328 in aged care.
Eighty-four Victorians are battling coronavirus in hospital, including eight in intensive care and five of those on a ventilator.
Of the 28 new cases, there are five cases in Brimbank, four cases in Moonee Valley, three cases in Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong, two in Darebin, Melton and Wyndham and single cases in Banyule, Greater Dandenong, Hume, Melbourne, Moreland and Stonnington.
The average number of cases over the past 14 days for metropolitan Melbourne is 32.8 and regional Victoria is 1.6.
The total number of cases from an unknown source in the last 14 days is 45 for metropolitan Melbourne and zero for regional Victoria.
The latest daily tally is nearly triple that of Monday’s, where just 11 new cases were recorded.
But metropolitan Melbourne’s rolling 14-day average continues to dip, falling to 32.8 from 34.4.
The region must reach an average daily case rate of between 30 and 50 cases over the preceding fortnight to trigger an easing of lockdown measures from September 28.
There were 11,123 tests conducted on Sunday.
REGIONAL VICTORIA COULD GO IT ALONE
Premier Daniel Andrews has not ruled out regional Victoria getting its own last step out of restrictions.
Currently the last step is tipped to occur statewide on November 23, subject to trigger points and public health advice.
Mr Andrews said unifying the state was important, but they were prepared to have rules for regional Victoria that reflect the virus situation there.
“Getting everybody on equal footing is important,” he said
“But at the same time, I think what we have shown in regional Victoria, taking two steps and being at step three, which is a different position to metropolitan Melbourne — we are prepared to have the rules in regional Victoria reflect the way the virus is actually presenting in regional Victoria. I’m not making announcements today about that.”
Mr Andrews said it was important to remember Melburnians have contacts in regional Victoria and not everyone who was symptomatic got tested.
“There will be more cases than we think. That is the nature of the virus,” he said.
TWO TESTING SITES CLOSE DUE TO WIND
Two coronavirus testing sites in the other east have been closed due to high winds.
The drive-through sites at Casey Fields and Pakenham Recreation Reserve have been closed due to potential hazards with the open marquess’ structures and issues for staff trying to write down details.
People wishing to get tested in the area should go to;
THE WALK-THROUGH site at Clyde Recreation Reserve football pavilion in Pattersons Rd, Clyde is open daily from 9am to 4pm.
A WALK-THROUGH site at 7 Gibb St, Berwick is open from 9.30am to 4pm, and a drive-through site at 20 Woods St, Beaconsfield is open from 8am to 5pm.
EMERGENCY POWER LAWS LAMBASTED
An influential group of retired judges and QCs have lashed out at new emergency power laws currently before the Victorian parliament, warning the Andrews Government’s latest Bill adds “unprecedented” and “excessive” abilities to detain citizens.
In a letter signed by 14 leading legal minds, including Retired High Court judge Michael McHugh, AC QC, the group raises concerns over a part of the government’s omnibus legislation that expands the powers of authorised officers enforcing public health directions.
They warn the changes would allow these officers to detain people who are deemed likely to break current restrictions, even if they are yet to do so, for an extended period of time.
“The Bill would also allow any person the Secretary considered appropriate to be authorised to exercise emergency powers,” the letter reads.
“There would be no requirement that persons authorised be police officers, or even public servants.
“Authorising citizens to detain their fellow citizens on the basis of a belief that the detained person is unlikely to comply with emergency directions by the ‘authorised’ citizens is unprecedented, excessive and open to abuse.
“We call on the Legislative Council to amend the Bill, or to vote against it.”
The omnibus legislation, passed last week in the lower house, are yet to be debated in the Legislative Council where crossbench votes are vital.
Former Federal Court judges Peter Heerey, AM QC, and Neil Young QC are among the other high profile legal minds who have signed the document.
They are joined by other QCs including Michael Borsky, Georginia Schoff, Peter Collinson.
OUTBREAK AT VICTORIAN GYM
A coronavirus outbreak has been linked to a gym in Melbourne’s southeast.
A g ym in the Hallam area was linked to an outbreak of 27 cases in June-July, Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Chen revealed.
He said gyms were relatively high-risk for outbreaks.
“There have been lots of outbreaks across the world, in Victoria, even despite gyms being closed obviously recently,” he said.
“In New South Wales, even with their relatively low numbers of community cases, gyms have featured prominently in their outbreaks.”
Victorian gyms continue to be closed and aren’t expected to be able to reopen until November 23.
CASEY CLUSTER BEING CLOSELY MONITORED
Close contacts of the Casey cluster continue to be monitored, but a new case hasn’t been detected in two days.
Prof Cheng said it was possible and likely some of the close contacts being monitored may become positive cases.
“But obviously the important point is that we have them under support and making sure that they’re not going to transmit on to other people, except within hopefully, only within their households,” he said.
DROP IN CASES COULD CHANGE ROADMAP
One of Australia’s top health officials says he expects Victoria’s falling coronavirus case numbers will provoke a rethink on restrictions.
Federal deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth praised Victoria as case numbers and the state’s rolling average continue to tumble, saying they were “a testimony to the immense effort” of people in rural and regional Victoria, particularly in Melbourne.
“It surrounds those Australians who’ve been under a very restricted way of life for many weeks now,” he said.
Dr Coatsworth said it was clear Victorian health officials, including Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, were “taking these numbers into account” amid a push to ease restrictions early.
Under the current road map, restriction will be eased slightly next week.
But Melburnians will largely continue to live under lockdown until October 26, providing the state hits a 14-day average of five new daily cases.
“If (case numbers) continue down into single digit territory there’s no doubt that that will be provoking some thought on behalf of the Victorian government about the road map and when restrictions can be lifted,” Dr Coatsworth said.
Daniel Andrews said on Monday that the government would use common sense when considering whether to ease restrictions early.
“If circumstances change, if we find ourself ahead of schedule — not for one day, but in a manifest sense — common sense always guides us,” the Premier said.
“We will look at what sits behind the numbers and then we will have to make a judgment.
“Has enough time passed for us to be confident that the numbers we are seeing are a true reflection of how much virus is out there?”
Mr Andrews would not comment on whether restrictions would be eased in time for AFL Grand Final celebrations on October 24.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said Victoria’s low numbers showed the state was in a position to open sooner than planned.
“Daniel Andrews needs to give us a real road map to open up Victoria,” he said.
“Victorians cannot wait until the end of October to start getting our lives back.
“The epidemiologists back it, the modelling backs it. Daniel Andrews needs to start listening to the experts, stop being a one-man show.”
AGED CARE UPGRADE ON WAY
Public aged care facilities in Victoria will be given an upgrade in a bid to clean up the sector.
Up to 50 state-run facilities will be given a facelift under a new $30 million package announced by Premier Daniel Andrews.
Changes will include building works, improved accessibility for staff and residents as well as installing new flooring, improving common areas and replacing ageing equipment.
ANDREWS’ SHOCK POLL RESULT
Victorians are continuing to back Premier Daniel Andrews despite his government’s controversial management of the state’s second coronavirus wave.
The Australian’s Newspoll shows 62 per cent of Victorian voters agree the Premier has handled the health crisis well despite failures in hotel quarantine causing much of the state’s COVID-19 cases.
Separately, 61 per cent of voters around Australia, including 57 per cent of Coalition voters, said the restrictions, which have locked Victorians at home, were appropriate.
But ex-premier Jeff Kennett, who has openly criticised Mr Andrews’ handling of the crisis, said he was not surprised by the Newspoll results.
“When you have people in situations of stress they always look to their leaders to actually be able to guide them to a safe place,” he told the Today show on Tuesday morning.
“We are being guided because the Government has failed, and I’ve always said that the aftermath of the coronavirus is going to be a lot more serious than, in fact, the coronavirus itself.
“We are going to have literally years of trying to recover here in Victoria. Businesses are closing all over the place. Our unemployment levels are rising. When we get to the next election it won’t be the coronavirus that the Premier has got to deal with, if he is still in office. It will actually be a shrinking economy … Opinion polls fluctuate, when you are up there is only one way to go.”
It comes after the Opposition last week pushed a vote of no confidence regarding the Premier’s leadership through parliament.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien on Monday published updated figures on his social media, where reportedly 40,000 Victorians had registered their vote of no confidence in the Premier.
CONTACT TRACING UPGRADE MAY STILL BE WEEKS AWAY
Flying squads of contact tracers and testers may take two weeks to be rolled out in Melbourne suburbs, despite the fact localised groups are already at work in the regions and in the city of Casey.
On September 8, the Andrews government announced five new “suburban response units” would be set up to improve contact tracing efforts.
They will be based on a similar model used in parts of regional Victoria over the past month.
But when asked on Monday why the squads were not yet out in the field, Premier Daniel Andrews said they were still being set up and may not be running this week.
“You’ve got to get it right, firstly, and you’ve also got to be sure you’re not diverting resources away from the principal task at hand,” he said.
“If you look at the Monash Health involvement in those 43 Hallam cases, they have essentially acted as a very busy localised team.
“It will be stood up very soon … it will get done when its done.
“When we’re ready to announce they’re up and running we will, its nothing more complicated than that.”
Mr Andrews also said it was up to the Prime Minister to release Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s report into contact tracing after a meeting of public health teams in Sydney.
But he said Victoria’s move to a digital system would set the agenda for other states as officials work on a system that can be shared across Australia.
“The data improvements that we’re putting in place are going to lead our nation,” Mr Andrews said.
Victoria’s daily case numbers for Monday were the lowest 24-hour increase since nine cases were recorded on June 16 and brought Melbourne’s rolling 14-day average to 34.4.
The city must have an average daily case rate of at least between 30 and 50 cases to allow for eased lockdown measures from September 28.
Among the new infections, five are linked to known outbreaks, while six are under investigation.
Victoria now has 657 active cases, including 332 in aged care and 79 healthcare workers
More than 7100 test results were processed over the past 24 hours, with most of these being taken on Saturday.
No new cases have been found in the municipality of Casey, with the Hallam outbreak now sitting at 43 — an increase of three.
There are also 92 Victorians in hospital, with six in intensive care and three on ventilators.
BILLION-DOLLAR PLAN TO LIFT US FROM SECOND WAVE
Victoria has now committed more than $13bn in its fight against coronavirus.
The bulk is split across economic support, $6.5bn; health, $2bn; and education, $937m.
A further $2.7bn is committed to the Building Works economic stimulus package; $417m to housing and homelessness; and $362m on transport.
Analysis by the Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office reveals more than 300 policy announcements have been made since March.
Last week was highest value of funding announcements since May, with the government unveiling its business support package including $1.4bn in grant programs and $1.7bn in tax deferrals.
It also announced $26.7m in funding for free kinder for Term 4.
More than $2.6bn of a treasurer’s advance has been used, with a up to $14.5bn
still available to the government.
Treasurer Tim Pallas secured access to the emergency fund in April, with the authority to spend up to $14.5bn in 2020-21.
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