14 new local cases, Victoria on track to reopen on Wednesday
Premier Daniel Andrews wants a “ring of steel” around Sydney as cases in NSW surge, but he refused to predict when Victoria’s lockdown might end as the state recorded 14 new local cases overnight.
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Victoria has recorded 14 new local Covid cases in the past 24 hours to Friday.
The Health Department said 10 of those in quarantine during their infectious period, comprising 71 per cent of the new infections.
There has been a total of 147 cases over the past 11 days, seven of those are in hospital with two in ICU but neither case is on a ventilator.
Ten cases were in isolation for 100 per cent of their of exposure days, three were out in the community for about 24 hours.
One of the four remaining cases is yet to be interviewed by authorities but the Health Department confirmed on Friday morning that all of the new locally acquired cases were linked to known clusters.
There are 21,000 Victorians currently in isolation.
Friday’s cases include:
• Four linked to the AAMI Park cluster
• Two linked to Ms Frankie (staff and customer)
• Two linked to Trinity Grammar (students)
• One linked to St Patrick’s (student)
• One linked to Bacchus Marsh Grammar (student)
• One linked to Phillip Island cluster
• One linked to City of Hume cluster
• One linked to West Gate Tunnel
• One linked Young & Jackson pub
Victoria’s fifth lockdown is set to last another until 11.59pm on July 27 but Premier Daniel Andrews said it was “very difficult” to predict whether lockdown would end as planned.
But he said: “The trend is with us … the trend is good”.
It comes as four Melbourne apartment blocks have been added as a tier two exposure site, with the exposure period spanning several days for some.
According to the Health Department’s website, a confirmed case lives in each of the four complexes.
Anyone who visited the ARK Richmond Apartment Complex, the H Hawthorn Apartment Complex, Aparthotel Cremorne Apartment Complex or the Anderson Park Apartment Complex in Camberwell at the specified times must get tested and isolate until receiving a negative result.
PREMIER SAYS SYDNEY ‘ON FIRE’
As NSW recorded 136 new Covid cases overnight, Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria needed “a ring of steel around Sydney so that this virus is not spreading into other parts of our nation”.
“Sydney is on fire with this virus and we need a ring of steel put around Sydney,” he said.
“Let’s focus on what’s going on in Sydney, let’s focus on not spreading what’s going on in Sydney across the rest of our country, Mr Andrews said.
“We will finish up with the whole country locked down if we don’t do this properly.
“The last thing I want is Victorians to see off this second Delta outbreak only to have further incursions because what’s going on in Sydney is not being contained to Sydney.
If it is a national emergency then there is a national responsibility to do every thing possible to contain it where it is now, not to see it spread.
“We did it last year to protect country Victoria and our country and the same must occur in relation to Sydney.
“That’s what I’ll be asking for at national cabinet when we meet after this press conference,” he said.
“If Sydney has been declared a national emergency, then my message is very clear, on behalf of all Victorians I am saying, there is a national responsibility to put a ring of steel around Sydney just as we did last year, because that will help stop the spread of the virus across the whole nation.”
The Premier said Victoria could get back to helping other states if the Sydney situation were contained.
“Instead of being on high alert for cases here, we can help out our friends in New South Wales, in Sydney particularly, to help them with their charges.”
Mr Andrews said Victoria wasn’t in the position right now to offer contact tracing assistance to NSW Health.
“We have veterans of a long and challenging second wave who can help New South Wales, we just have to get the situation under control here first and be confident that it is locked into Sydney and not going to travel into our state,” he said.
He also said he doubted “very much” that Victoria’s supply of vaccine would be reallocated to other states.
“If we can contain Sydney, and not be hyper worried that it’s going to come here as another incursion, then we could all work together,” he said.
A decision on allowing Victorians with a compassionate exemption to travel back from NSW will be reviewed after two weeks, the Premier said.
“It will be based on health advice.
“It’s a fair bet that if things have not manifestly improved in Sydney, then it will remain a very high risk zone for us and we will not be allowing people to as of right, return.”
The Premier said a number of things contributed to the success of Victoria’s stage four lockdown: one hour of exercise, a 5km radius a curfew — plus a ring of steel.
SOLID TESTING RESULTS
Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said solid testing results had been returned from all the schools involved in the latest outbreak: Bacchus Marsh Grammar, St Patrick’s, and Trinity Grammar.
“We have seen solid testing results back from them, all in the high 80s and low 90s percentages,” Mr Weimar said.
“For the MCG crowd, three quarters of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 exposure sites came forward to get tested. They will start their day 13 testing from tomorrow.
There are 3500 tests due over the weekend and Mr Weimar said those tests would determine their failure or clearance from isolation.
Three thousand Victorians were visited at home over the past 11 days to ensure they were isolating.
Mr Weimar said 17 cases who appeared not to be in isolation were referred to police for further enforcement action.
ALERT FOR CBD TRAM EXPOSURE
Mr Weimar issued an alert for anybody who was on tram route 86 in Melbourne’s CBD on July 21 between 3pm and 4pm to come forward for testing.
“We have a case of somebody on his way to a testing station who was infectious at that time,” Mr Weimar said.
“We are keen to make sure the half a dozen or so other passengers on the tram come forward and get tested immediately.”
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said: “We obviously want this tram trip to be tracked down. It will be very few people but it is a priority in terms of new exposure sites, as well.”
More details will come on the DHHS website.
An Australia Post office in Newport was the most recent Covid-19 hotspot to be added on Friday.
Anyone who visited the post office at 6 Hall St in Newport on July 20 between 12.20pm-1pm must get tested urgently and isolate until a negative result is received.
The same advice applies for two new locations in Cragieburn in Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs:
Freshplus Craigieburn; July 19 between 2.10pm-2.55pm is now a Tier 2 site.
Mimi’s Chicken and Grill; July 19 between 2.25pm-3.15pm is now a Tier 2 site.
Multiple supermarkets in Malvern, a Bunnings in Melbourne’s southeast and a 7-Eleven in Chadstone were also among the latest additions.
CONFUSION REIGNS OVER NSW REMOVALISTS' FATE
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton could not say whether the trio of Sydney removalists who plunged Victoria back into lockdown when they attended Ariele Apartments in Maribyrnong would be named.
Speaking to Neil Mitchell on 3AW on Friday morning, Mr Patton said the case had not yet been handed over to police.
“That’s still a matter that sits with the department of health,” he said.
Mr Patton said investigators were assisting health teams with their inquiries.
“We’re assisting health with their investigation,” he said.
It comes after Health Minister Martin Foley told the daily press conference the matter had been “handed to Victoria Police” to investigate.
“The operation side of things, due process, had to be at arm’s length from government,” he said.
“Victoria Police are going through that process and when they have finished that I’m looking forward to the full weight of the law applying to those people.”
But Mr Patton said the case had not yet been taken over by Victoria Police but that any punishment handed down to the removalists would depend on the time at which they breached the chief health officer’s directions.
The three removalists attended the apartment on July 8, failing to wear masks or socially distance themselves as they came into close contact with residents of the locked down complex.
They infected four residents who then unwittingly spread the virus to dozens of others, including elderly parents, students and spectators at the MCG and AAMI Park.
Premier Daniel Andrews said: “I think there is always significant interest in these matters.
He said Victoria Police “may not have officially received the matter, which may be why there were two different answers to the same question.
“It is not with police, it is literally on the way to them. They will do as they see fit, and I expect if you ask the chief commissioner at the same question, you know, on Monday, it is probably a different answer.”
NSW RECORDS 136 NEW VIRUS CASES
Another 136 new Covid cases have been diagnosed in NSW, with 53 of those in the community for their entire infectious period.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was a crisis cabinet this morning and the situation, particularly around Sydney’s southwest and western suburbs, is now considered a national emergency.
Read the full story here
SOUTH AUSTRALIA RECORDS ONE NEW CASE
South Australia has recorded one new locally acquired case of Covid-19.
Premier Steven Marshall said the new infection was linked to a known cluster and detected while in quarantine.
The update comes as health authorities grapple to contain an outbreak, with thousands in quarantine and about 100 close contacts of existing infections ordered into medi-hotel facilities on Thursday.
Read the full story here
KIDS APPROVED TO GET PFIZER JABS
Kids in Australia are set to get the jab, with the country’s drug regulator green-lighting Covid-19 vaccination for children as young as 12.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration will on Friday announce it has approved Pfizer’s application for a licence for its vaccine to be given to children aged 12 to 16.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said “protecting children would be an important and welcome additional step in the national vaccination program”.
Read the full story here
ACTION PLEA IN TESTING SITE NIGHTMARE
Panicked Melburnians from the eastern suburbs flocking to a Box Hill Covid testing site have residents at their wits end.
After 16 months of traffic blocking driveways to huge queues of cars clogging up once quiet residential streets, the community and local authorities are pleading with the State Government to urgently move the Landale St site.
Whitehorse Council will write to Health Minister Martin Foley asking him to shift the testing site to a more appropriate location, with Silver Grove Nunawading suggested as a better spot.
Read the full story here
JITTERS AFTER MYSTERY QANTAS CASE
Health authorities are scrambling to trace a new infection in Queensland after it was revealed a regional crew member was “possibly infectious” on six flights across the state.
The QantasLink flight attendant worked on multiple flights between Brisbane, Longreach, Gladstone and Hervey Bay on July 11 and 12.
Chief health officer Jeanette Young urged all residents in the remote communities to come forward for testing as her team races to figure out where the infection came from.
The Qantas flights the woman in her 30s worked on include flight 2534 from Brisbane to Longreach on July 11, flight 2535 from Longreach to Brisbane on July 11, flight 2346 from Brisbane to Gladstone on July 11, flight 2331 from Gladstone to Brisbane on July 12, flight 2374 from Brisbane to Hervey Bay on July 12, flight 2375 from Hervey Bay to Brisbane on July 12.
— Read the full story here.
RACE TO TRACK MARKET SHOPPERS
It comes as health authorities desperately try to trace shoppers possibly exposed to the coronavirus at Prahran Market.
The state recorded 26 new locally acquired infections in the 24 hours to Thursday — the highest daily figure in the current outbreak.
Despite the spike, the rate of positive cases in isolation throughout their infectious period has increased from just 6 per cent three days ago to 92 per cent.
Acting chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie said that number was a “fundamental element” of Victoria’s road out of lockdown.
“That reassures me that we’re going in the right direction … I’m feeling like we’re certainly winning the race,” he said.
Professor Cowie said another factor working in Victoria’s favour was that no mystery cases had been identified in the current outbreaks.
It comes as federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg predicted that lockdowns in Victoria, New South Wales and now South Australia — covering more than 12 million people
— were costing the national economy about $300m a day.
Of the 26 new local cases, just two people were in the community while infectious.
One is a man thought to have caught the virus while queuing to enter AAMI Park on July 13.
Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said the case was “evidence of transmission in unstructured crowds outside of major events”.
The man was in the community for only one day, on which he visited the Prahran Market between 9.40am and 11.15am on Saturday.
He visited a number of traders, prompting the Department of Health to classify the whole market a Tier 1 site, meaning all staff and patrons who were at the market during that exposure period must quarantine for 14 days.
The other new case that had been in the community — linked to Trinity Grammar — visited a Heyfield service station on her way to Melbourne from East Gippsland, after being told she was a close contact. Mr Weimar said the woman had shown “exemplary” behaviour, even sanitising her credit card.
All up, seven of the new cases are linked to Trinity Grammar, six to Ms Frankie’s, two to the Phillip Island cluster, five to St Patrick’s, one to the MCG, two are household contacts of the index Mildura case and two more cases are connected to the Hume family.
Casey Hospital on Thursday confirmed an employee, who tested positive on Tuesday worked a shift during their infectious period.
Although it is thought they did not have any interaction with patients, 41 employees have been furloughed as they await test results.
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