208 new cases, 17 deaths as hospitals fight outbreaks
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is determined Victoria’s COVID-19 numbers will be driven down and remain low, saying the state would not see days of 300-plus new cases again. It comes as 17 Victorians died of coronavirus overnight, with a further 208 new cases recorded.
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Victoria’s coronavirus death toll has surpassed 400 after 17 people died overnight.
The victims include a man and woman in their 60s, three men in their 70s, four women and six men in their 80s and two men in their 90s.
Eleven of the latest deaths are linked to aged-care outbreaks. In total, 415 people have died of coronavirus in Victoria.
There were also 208 new cases of coronavirus announced on Sunday, with 4012 cases active across the state.
But Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the delay in active case reporting meant it was likely the “true active cases” range was more likely to be in the mid-3000s.
He also said more deaths would come, but hoped the rate of fatalities had now “plateaued”.
The mystery case load jumped to 3920 cases, an increase of 82.
In a positive for the frontline, healthcare worker cases dropped to 536 cases.
The number of people in intensive care has dropped to 32, with 21 on ventilators.
Premier Daniel Andrews said this weekend’s bad weather “is an absolute blessing”, amid reports warmer weather last weekend prompted people to start moving around more.
“It is not surprising that we had absolutely beautiful weather last weekend — and just before anyone writes a column saying I’m blaming the weather, I’m not doing that,” he said.
“It’s just an obvious thing: lots of sunshine last weekend, that meant people were out.
“This weekend, not much sunshine and I expect when we’re reporting movement next week, that will be reflected in those numbers.
“Again, as enjoyable as it is to get out and about, we can’t be focused on one Saturday at the park.
“We got to defeat this thing so people can spend every Saturday at the park. That’s the choice we have at the moment.”
Prof Sutton said “the numbers are bouncing round a bit but we are not going to see 300, 400 cases again — not under my watch at least”.
“Sometimes they sound really trite to be repeating, but essentially the transmission that’s still occurring is sometimes because people have forgotten those really basic — but very essential — elements,” he said.
“Not washing your hands that one time, forgetting your mask, not wearing it properly, hugging someone who’s outside your household.
“These are simple but also easy to forget … we got ingrained habits we’re trying to turn around.”
Mr Andrews urged people to keep following the rules, saying “we are halfway and the strategy is working”.
“It will be challenging this next two three weeks because when you get down to these lower numbers, it just takes a few bad decisions … if we start opening up before we have defeated this second wave, then we will just be in the beginnings of a third wave,” he said.
“We have to beat this thing.”
It comes as authorities race to get on top of an outbreak at two Melbourne hospitals.
Positive cases have been linked to Dandenong Hospital and Cabrini Hospital in Malvern.
The DHHS could not confirm how many infections across the two sites in a detailed list of outbreaks released on Saturday afternoon.
A volatile outbreak at the Royal Melbourne Hospital Royal Park campus continues to grow with active cases soaring to 155.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of active cases linked to aged care outbreaks are:
- 210 cases have been linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping;
- 193 cases have been linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner;
- 158 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer;
- 156 cases have been linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee;
- 133 cases have been linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth;
- 115 cases have been linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine North;
- 114 cases have been linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir;
- 113 cases have been linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North;
- 110 cases have been linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg;
- 107 cases have been linked to Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Facility in Sunbury.
A total of 57 active cases are currently linked to residential disability accomodation, of which 13 cases are in residents and 44 in staff.
There are a total of 42 active cases in NDIS homes, including 13 cases in residents.
There are 15 cases in staff members in state-regulated transfer homes, and no active cases in state-funded homes.
Current cases linked to large outbreaks stand at:
- 211 cases have been linked to Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown;
- 158 cases have been linked to JBS Brooklyn;
- 83 cases have been linked to Australian Lamb Company in Colac;
- 35 cases have been linked to Werribee Mercy Hospital;
- 35 cases have been linked to AusFresh in Broadmeadows;
- 21 cases have been linked to the Vawdrey Australia in Dandenong South.
Cases linked to Princeton View Aged care in Brighton, Estia Health aged care facility in Keysborough, a ward at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Western Private Hospital in Footscray, the Laming racing stable in Cranbourne and Channel 10 Studio in Docklands are all under investigation.
WHY MASKED SINGER WAS ALLOWED TO FILM IN STAGE FOUR
Premier Daniel Andrews and Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton have defended the decision to allow The Masked Singer to film in Melbourne before a coronavirus outbreak hit the show.
Singer Dannii Minogue, comedian Dave Hughes, radio host Jackie O and stand-up comic Urzila Carlson were forced into self-isolation after seven dancers on the show tested positive to the virus.
The Premier said on Sunday it was not his decision to give the show an exemption to operate, when other businesses have been forced to close.
“They are not decisions that are necessarily made by me,” he said.
Read the full story here.
‘IDIOTS’ FINED FOR PARTY
Five self-declared “idiots” and a man “bored at home” were among the 199 people fined for breaching COVID-19 restrictions in the past 24 hours.
Twenty people not wearing a mask and 73 people caught breaching curfew were among those fined by police.
Officers busted up a gathering in Mornington Peninsula after reports of loud music.
Three males and two females were discovered drinking together at the beachside address and told police “we are idiots” when questioned over their behaviour.
A man from Altona Meadows told police he was bored at home when pulled over in Brimbank on his way to visit a mate.
Another rule-breaker caught leaving a Glen Eira petrol station after curfew told police he was buying chocolate for a diabetic friend who had low blood sugar.
When asked to prove his claim, he admitted he was lying and was there to buy cigarettes.
PREMIER RULES OUT STEPPING DOWN BEFORE 2022
Mr Andrews has ruled out stepping down before the 2022 state election.
Addressing rumours within the Labor government that he was likely to stand down after the pandemic was over, Mr Andrews on Sunday, denied he would be giving up the top job.
When asked whether he will lead Labor at the 2022 election, Mr Andrews said: “Yes … I will.
“This job is a great honour. It is something I am 100 per cent committed to, there is a lot more that needs to be done, a lot more that needs to be built.”
Leadership rumours have dogged the government in recent weeks, with reports a growing number of MPs were unhappy with the lack of transparency occurring within the government.
Read the full story here.
‘CLICK FOR VIC’ PUSH TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES
A campaign to encourage Victorians to keep supporting local business from their homes has been launched by the state government.
The Click for Vic campaign was announced by Mr Andrews on Sunday encouraging Victorians to keep buying fresh food, wine, designer homewares and art from Victorian producers during the pandemic.
The campaign is being supported by well-known chefs like Shane Delia.
“Without a vaccine, coronavirus will mean we have to find new ways to innovate and adapt,” Mr Andrews said.
“But by Clicking for Vic, we can support these local businesses.”
Victorian business have also received $1.3 billion in government support through 126,420 applications.
The worker support payment, which was increased to $450 recently, has been issued 24,968 times, with $8.9 million given to workers who do not receive sick leave and need to isolate.
The state government have also issued 6.2 million disposable masks to workplaces and schools, and just under 1 million reusable masks.
HOW NEW SYSTEM IS TARGETING AGED-CARE HOT SPOTS
An Australian-first system to tackle the COVID-19 aged-care crisis has cut the number of “critical” risk homes from 13 to four in about a fortnight.
New specialist hubs have been created to allow authorities to send staff and support to virus-ravaged centres, transcending private and public health systems in federal and state jurisdictions.
More than 700 patients have been evacuated from the worst homes and sent to hospitals.
The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has rolled out the hubs in just three weeks to address a rising number of COVID-linked deaths in Victorian centres — which now stands at 261.
The new system ranks each aged-care home affected by the virus as either At Risk, New, Ongoing, or Critical, with the latter leading to urgent intervention.
VACRC executive officer Joe Buffone said “critical risk” facilities often required significant workforce and support services.
“When the model was first developed the Response Centre was tracking 13 facilities in the red category in early August. That number has stabilised to four facilities in the red category this week,” he said.
There are nine health service hubs to deal with the outbreaks in aged-care centres, including four in hard-hit metropolitan areas.
The system is designed to head off fresh outbreaks; facilities untouched by the virus are provided training in infection control and prevention.
Incidents can be logged through a web-based system.
Mr Buffone said Victoria has about 52,000 residents in 767 aged-care facilities, 129 of which have a COVID-19 outbreak.
He said fewer than 1 per cent of homes were in the high risk category and while “those facilities are being actively monitored they are currently stable and are well supported”.
CITY TO OFFER BEDS TO ROUGH SLEEPERS
City authorities are pushing ahead with plans to use council buildings to provide beds and support services for rough sleepers.
Hundreds of homeless people across Melbourne are currently housed in hotels under a state government-funded program during the pandemic.
But there are also dozens of rough sleepers with severe mental health issues who have refused the free hotel stays, with some moving to the suburbs to evade police scrutiny.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said a City of Melbourne plan announced last year to provide accommodation and wraparound services for the vulnerable as they sought housing remained active, and funding options were being considered.
“We have also supported the Victorian government to provide emergency hotel accommodation for about 2000 rough sleepers from around the state during the pandemic,” Ms Capp said.
“There is now a consensus that returning vulnerable people to the streets post-COVID is not an option.”
Salvation Army Project 614 director Major Brendan Nottle said he supported the vision, but rough sleepers refusing hotel stays remained an issue.
“They do not see homelessness as their primary issue, but rather they would see that complex mental health issues and sometimes addiction issues are their main problems,” he said.
“We shouldn’t assume that a roof over everyone’s head will address all of their problems, we need to ensure we are providing the appropriate resources to address the key needs of individuals.”
Many rough sleepers who refused hotel rooms were going to the suburbs to avoid a big police presence in the city, he said.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said hotel accommodation was being extended until April 2021, and Victorians would continue to be supported to access stable, long-term housing.
“We will arrange to lease 1100 properties from the private rental market, providing a permanent home for people once they leave emergency accommodation,” he said.
Government aid includes $150m to transition homeless people to a home, and a $498m housing maintenance and refurbishment program.
— John Masanauskas
LAW FIRM MULLS GOVERNMENT SUIT
A second law firm is considering suing government departments and security firms implicated in the bungled hotel quarantine program.
Arnold Thomas and Becker may launch a class action over COVID-19 deaths connected with alleged negligence by security firms and government departments. The company is looking into allegations St Basil’s aged-care home at Fawkner was negligent in its handling of the health crisis and breached its duty of care to residents, resulting in deaths.
Five deaths and 160 coronavirus cases have so far been linked to the nursing home, and a class action has not been ruled out over that outbreak.
“Thousands of people across Victoria have now been infected by COVID-19 as a result of the hotel quarantine fiasco,” principal lawyer Larry Dent said
Law firm Phi Finney and McDonald has said it has fielded inquiries from businesses hit hard during the second wave of coronavirus and associated lockdowns, and was investigating the prospect of taking on the state government.
– Mandy Squires
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