Monday’s easing of restrictions postponed after worrying virus spike
Another double-digit rise in COVID-19 cases has forced Victoria to tighten restrictions amid fears of a second wave. And Premier Daniel Andrews has not ruled out locking down entire suburbs if infections continue to spike. It comes as another school was forced to resume remote learning after a postive case was discovered.
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Victoria has scrapped plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions after another double-digit rise in new cases.
And the AFL season is now under threat after Essendon’s Conor McKenna tested positive to coronavirus. The diagnosis is set to throw the AFL season into turmoil after forcing Sunday’s Bombers v Melbourne game to be postponed.
A total of 25 new cases were recorded in the state on Saturday, up from 13 on Friday, 18 on Thursday and 21 on Wednesday.
Fourteen of the new cases were linked to existing outbreaks, with 10 linked to the Keilor Downs household outbreak, including a teacher from Albanvale Primary School.
Two are in aged care facilities — Lifeview Willow Wood, Cranbourne and Royal Freemasons Springtime, Sydenham — and an additional three cases are linked to the Stamford Plaza outbreak.
One new case is linked to H&M Northland, and another case is linked to the Coburg family outbreak.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the lifting of restrictions would be halted until July 12, while some would be tightened.
From midnight on Sunday night to July 12, household gatherings will be reduced to five people. Outdoor gatherings will be restricted to 10.
Cafes, restaurants and pubs had been set to be allowed 50 patrons at one time on Monday, up from 20 currently. But that will also be put on hold until July 12.
Gyms, cinemas, indoor sports centres and concert venues will be allowed to reopen as promised on Monday, but will be restricted to a limit of just 20 people.
And here's a guide to the changes and timelines: pic.twitter.com/2UBsqdOwWc
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) June 20, 2020
Community sport for kids and non-contact competition for adults can proceed as planned.
Ski season and accommodation with communal spaces will also open, but with increased screening and safeguards in place.
Mr Andrews broke the news of the swelling cases and a winding back of restrictions on Saturday afternoon, saying the virus case numbers had hit the highest they had been in more than two months.
“I know that’s not what people want to hear, but sadly, that is our reality,” he said.
“We can’t let this thing get away from us. We must act while we can.”
Mr Andrews said more than half of the new cases since the end of April have come from family-to-family transmission.
“It is unacceptable that families anywhere in our state can, just because they want this to be over, pretend that it is,” he said.
“It is pretty clear that behind closed doors ... they are not practising social distancing.”
Mr Andrews said strict lockdowns, including limited travel, like those the whole state faced in recent months, could be imposed in specific local government areas to combat outbreaks.
The council areas with the highest number of new cases are outer suburban areas of Melbourne — Hume, Brimbank, Casey, Darebin, Moreland and Cardinia.
The Premier said he had discussed this strategy with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and that it was a method discussed by the national cabinet.
On the other hand, areas in regional Victoria with no COVID-19 cases may be reopened ahead of infected areas of the state.
A work-from-home directive has also been issued for the entirety of July.
“We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people returning to the tea rooms, to liftwells to enclosed spaces,” Mr Andrews said.
The state’s Chief Health Officer said Victoria is “absolutely at risk of a second peak” of COVID-19.
“We are at a point where we have to turn it around or the numbers get beyond us,” Professor Brett Sutton said on Saturday. “We are indeed at a crossroads.”
The Premier said a new “hardship” payment of $1500 would be made available to those who need to stay away from work if unwell — to prevent them from going to work with coronavirus.
“This is about making sure there’s no financial reason for these people not to isolate,” Mr Andrews said.
HOW VICTORIA WAS FORCED TO TIGHTEN RESTRICTIONS
The Sunday Herald Sun learned that late yesterday, members of the highly regarded Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) were invited to a crisis meeting to be held tomorrow amid fears of a second wave across Victoria.
The blow in the fight against coronavirus comes after deputy health officer Annaliese van Diemen yesterday said restrictions would still ease as planned on Monday.
But the worrying rise in community transmissions, which came through this morning, left the government with no option but to change restrictions.
It comes a fortnight after more than 10,000 people — several later diagnosed with COVID-19 — rallied in Melbourne’s CBD in a Black Lives Matter protest.
Double-digit cases of coronavirus could be set to continue in Victoria, and the spike is expected to continue for at least the coming days, fuelled partly by the inappropriate “mingling” of security guards at Melbourne’s quarantine hotels.
Thirteen new coronavirus cases being announced yesterday — 51 in the past three days.
Health authorities are monitoring Victoria’s rate of community transmissions, fearing the string of double-digit daily cases could be the start of a second wave of the pandemic.
But scrutiny at quarantine hotels is being tightened after five more security guards at Stamford Plaza were infected.
Stamford Plaza has been linked to southeastern suburbs family cluster and has grown to seven cases since being detected on Wednesday, although Dr van Diemen expected it to grow much bigger.
“It does appear that quite a few of them of them have worked a single or multiple days while infectious, so we do expect … further cases linked to that outbreak,” she said.
“It does appear that there have been some breaches of those guidelines at this point in time, so we are increasing the auditing, increasing the supervision, increasing the training in all aspects of their work.
“There has been some closer mingling of these guards than we would like.
“People are friendly with one another in the workplace and they know each other, but it is important we do maintain physical distancing and … an awareness, particularly in hotels that the passengers may be COVID-positive.”
An earlier outbreak at the Rydges on Swanston hotel yesterday grew to 18 cases, while a fresh cluster was identified in a Keilor Downs family.
Although it was always expected there would be “hot spots” emerging as restrictions eased, Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone he feared “lockdown fatigue” may be driving the continued rise in Victoria, and it could strike other states.
“The fact it continues to be those numbers consistently for a number of days in a row is a worry, so people are monitoring this very closely over the next week or two,” he said.
“If we saw a consistent uptick from here would have to really review whether we could continue our progress with relaxation of restrictions.”
CAMBERWELL GRAMMAR RESUMES REMOTE LEARNING
One class of students at Camberwell Grammar will resume distance learning after a year
seven boy tested positive for the coronavirus.
The elite eastern suburbs private school has notified parents of boys in class 7A that their
sons must not come to school until next term and will learn from home next week.
The letter says the boy “is not seriously ill, but we now need to take all precautions we can
to prevent the further spread of the virus”.
All family members of the affected boy’s classmates will have to home isolate for the next
14 days and will be tested for the virus. Teachers who have been in contact with the boy will
also have to stay home for 14 days and be tested.
The school is working with the Department of Health to trace all of the student’s close
contacts in past days – which is defined as more than 15 minutes of face to face contact or
sharing a closed space for more than two hours without personal protective equipment.
The school has also contacted all school parents, advising them of the positive test, and
reassuring them that the school will be cleaned over the weekend and will open as usual for
other students. “I am sorry to have to bring you this news, but as we know, this virus
respects no boundaries and is blind to havoc that it brings in its wake,” the letter to parents
from principal Dr Paul Hicks said.
— Susie O’Brien
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