Victoria’s snap lockdown to be extended

Victoria’s lockdown will stretch on for at least another week as the state’s Covid tally spiked yet again. This is what we know so far.

Victoria’s lockdown will be extended for at least seven days.

Senior government sources have confirmed that a decision has been reached to extend the lockdown with the view that it could go even longer.

It’s understood different restrictions for regional Victoria have been discussed by Cabinet.

But a decision on whether regional Victoria will be spared from ongoing restrictions will be contingent on the next 24 hours.

An extension of the state government’s $250 million business support package is expected to be announced today.

And state government sources say they will continue to lobby the federal government to match its support.

Remote learning and prohibitions on leaving home except for five reasons will continue.

The length of the extension was debated at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday night amid fears over a more infectious super strain.

Health officials on Tuesday ­revealed that at least four cases in the present outbreak – which has grown to 54 cases – were infected with the Indian variant after “fleeting” contact.

“What we are seeing now clearly is people who are brushing past each other in a small shop, they are going to a display home, they are looking at phones in a Telstra shop – they don’t know each other’s names and that is very different from where we have been,” Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said on Tuesday.

Acting Premier James Merlino is set to extend Victoria’s lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Wayne Taylor

On Monday, health authorities warned they were “neck and neck” with the fast-moving superstrain, as tracers grapple with hundreds of exposure sites and thousands of close contacts.

Acting Premier James Merlino earlier this week refused to rule out extending the lockdown, due to end on Friday.

He said that decision would depend not just on case number but the “type of cases”, including whether they were in a high-risk setting and linked to other known infections.

“There is no doubt the situation is incredibly serious,” Mr Merlino said. “The next few days remain critical … this outbreak may well get worse before it gets better.”

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the lockdown was being reviewed “day by day” but that the latest cases, particularly in aged care, were concerning.

“We are neck and neck with this virus, and it is an absolute beast,” Prof Sutton said. “It has been a rapidly moving virus and the transmission that has occurred in those high-risk settings has been very substantial.

“We could get reassuring news … but we’ve had some stuff come to us in the last 48 hours that’s very concerning.”

Business leaders called for greater clarity on when restrictions would ease, saying the best support the government could offer would be to allow them to trade.

“Business wants as much notice as possible that the lockdown will finish on Friday, but even no notice period is preferable to remaining closed,” Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Paul Guerra said.

With no positive cases outside greater Melbourne, leaders in regional Victoria are calling for country areas to be spared.

Prof Sutton refused to rule out the return of the “ring of steel” to separate Melbourne and regional Victoria, were the lockdown to be isolated to the metropolitan regions.

The lockdown is expected to remain in force until at least early next week.

But police association secretary Wayne Gatt told the Herald Sun he was against the ring of steel being reinstated.

“It provided a deterrent on major freeways but left opportunities on other access roads for people who wanted to breach the regulations to do so quite easily,” Mr Gatt said.

“To put further police at checkpoints would dramatically affect our ability to manage other responses and bring an already strained force to an unsustainable level.”

With no confirmed cases in the regions, country areas have called for restrictions there to be eased. “It (the ring of steel) is not out of the question, it’s not locked in,” Prof Sutton said.

Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said it seemed clear the lockdown would last “a lot longer” than seven days.

“It’s a very concerning day for Victorians. The pretty clear message is that we can’t look forward to restrictions being eased on Friday,” he said.

BUSY STREETS, SHOPPING CENTRES GROUND ZERO FOR VIRUS

Another Victorian aged care facility has been sent into lockdown amid virus fears as authorities reveal some new positive cases have emerged after “very fleeting contact” with infected strangers.

The new coronavirus super strain is jumping between strangers who brush past each other in shops.

Investigations say that quick transmission probably occurred at a Telstra store in South Melbourne, JMD Grocers in Epping, a Mickleham display home and at Craigieburn Central shopping centre.

— Follow the latest coronavirus news LIVE here