Active cases hit double figures as poll suggests region wants harsher restrictions to stop coronavirus
The number of new coronavirus cases is starting to climb on the Mornington Peninsula. And it looks like locals want even tougher restrictions to stop the spread.
South East
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Active coronavirus cases have reached double figures on the Mornington Peninsula and some residents believe lockdown restrictions should be upgraded to Stage 4 now.
The latest figures from the Department of Health and Human Services revealed four new cases on the Mornington Peninsula since Monday, taking the overall tally of active cases to 11.
The number is tiny compared to Wednesday’s shocking figure of 484 new cases across Victoria.
But some locals believe a move to State 4 restrictions was needed to protect the region from a wider outbreak.
A Leader poll revealed 77 per cent of 965 respondents wanted tougher rules in place to stop coronavirus.
The remaining 23 per cent wanted to remove the region from the lockdown over Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.
There were also calls to maintain the status quo to allow Stage 3 restrictions more time to work and give struggling businesses a chance.
“So many local businesses will close and not reopen. stay home, stay safe, shop online,” Dean Stapleton posted.
Others suggested the recent move to Stage 3 gave people too much notice about the impending changes.
“How many (actives cases) would we have had if Melbournites were not given 36 hours to scramble down to the peninsula away from their permanent residences?” Julie Tierney posted.
“I am blaming Melbourne people who should have stayed at home.”
But others said it was up to each individual to do the right thing.
“Don’t blame the Melbourne people, ever been to Rye Woolies and watched the locals social distancing? Don’t think so. We all need to do the right thing,” Barbara Frecker posted.
The poll results were an about face on an ongoing campaign to release Mornington Peninsula from lockdown altogether.
A petition against the decision to include the peninsula in the Stage 3 restrictions collected 5368 signatures in just four days.
It was started by Bittern man Lane Prowd on July 10 and followed a plea from business owners who said the second lockdown would jeopardise their chance of surviving the economic fall out.
The petition has now been sent to Daniel Andrews.
On Wednesday Mr Andrews rejected suggestions the state was headed for further restrictions, but would not rule them out completely.
“There’s no announcements to be made today about any changes to the rules,” he said.
He said the government was focused on driving down the number of people who weren’t self isolating when ill or when waiting for their test results.
“They’re the things we’re focused on,” he said.
Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said Victoria was at a “challenging” time in the pandemic.
He forecasted a further rise in the number of cases in coming days.
“We’re in pretty tough times if we’re going to turn this around,” he said.
Prof Sutton said the virus was most infectious in the first few days of symptoms showing, making it critical to self-isolate and get tested early.
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