Live Breaking News: Experts predict another Melbourne lockdown extension as cases spread

In an alarming development, there are growing signs Covid is spreading beyond the capital and into regional Victoria.

less than 2 min read

August 13, 2021 - 2:00PM

Victoria testing dozens after potential exposure on flight from Sydney

Traces of Covid have been found in wastewater in "unexpected" areas in metro Melbourne and regional Victoria alike, sparking fears the outbreak is spreading.

The sites of concern include Lakes Entrance and Camberwell, and catchments in the western suburbs including Tarneit, Williams Landing and Truganina.

"As we always say, any symptoms please get tested but in particular in these catchments bear in mind there could well be a case in those catchments," the CHO said this morning.

"It could be you.

"You need to get tested if you have any symptoms at all."

Read on for the latest Victorian Covid news and updates. You can find our NSW Covid blog here.

Updates

Daniel Andrews has opened up on his decision to get vaccinated, telling reporters he did it for his mum.

"I can't visit her at the moment, because I live in Melbourne and she doesn't," he said.

"I've got vaccinated not just for my own health but so I can spend time with the people that I love the most.

"Whether that's my kids or my mum, it is a powerful contribution that I can make that every Victorian can make.

"Regardless of who you are, what you do for a living where you're from, what your circumstances are, there are literally a million reasons to get a jab over the next month."

There's a million reasons to get vaccinated – but for me, it's Mum.

She still lives out in Wang, not far from where I grew up.

I love her, and I think about her every day.

Even if this pandemic means I can't see her as much as I'd like, I still want to know that she's safe. pic.twitter.com/euOFuw9xlN
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 13, 2021

Ms Andrews has confirmed the state's goal to get "a million jabs into a million arms" in the next five weeks.

That will include a mix of Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

"That means that AstraZeneca will be available to everybody over 18 at all of our state hubs, all 50 of them," he said.

"We will expand our drive through locations."

Here's everything you need to know about the AZ jab.

Traces of Covid have been found in wastewater in "unexpected" areas in metro Melbourne and regional Victoria alike, sparking fears the outbreak is spreading beyond the capital.

The sites of concern include Lakes Entrance and Camberwell, and catchments in the western suburbs including Tarneit, Williams Landing and Truganina.

"As we always say, any symptoms please get tested but in particular in these catchments bear in mind there could well be a case in those catchments," the CHO said this morning.

"It could be you.

"You need to get tested if you have any symptoms at all."

Series opener underway

Nic Savage

Victoria's CHO Brett Sutton has revealed mystery cases in the state are of "particular concern" for authorities.

"These are individuals who don't know that they were infectious at the time," he said.

"They've developed symptoms, gotten tested and done the right thing and isolating. Their close contacts are being followed up.

"They've been out in the community within the restrictions imposed in the lockdown but still shopping for food, going out for essential reasons. Those exposure sites are quite numerous, because that individual wasn't already identified as a primary close contact.

"That's the challenge of mystery cases. That's why we need to get on top of them as much as possible."

Of today's 15 new cases in Victoria, the source of four remain a mystery.

Those cases are still being investigated as authorities scramble to find potential links to known outbreaks.

It comes after a string of other mystery cases in recent days, sparking serious concerns for the state.

Russell holds the lead

Melbourne radio station 3AW is reporting on a "stupid" infection control error that sparked a Covid cluster at the Moonee Valley testing clinic.

Apparently, staff and those waiting for testing were using the same bathrooms at the site, which led to two traffic controllers catching Covid, with eight infections now linked to the site.

Host Neil Mitchell slammed the “stupid error” and said health experts were "staggered" it happened.

“For 18 months we’ve been working with patients and staff using the same facilities across how many sites? We’ve dodged a bullet," he said.

“Obviously people queuing for testing have a higher chance of Covid than those in the community. You’d think the infection control would be excellent — well it wasn’t, and that’s on the head of the government.”

Hamilton moves up into second

There have been seven new local cases recorded in Queensland overnight.

In some good news, all cases are linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and were detected in home quarantine.

Friday 13 August – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

7 new locally acquired cases – all linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and detected in home quarantine.

1 overseas acquired case – detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/O0jwb8oNpY
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 13, 2021

There have been 15 new cases recorded in Victoria overnight.

Of those cases, 11 are linked to known outbreaks and four are still being investigated.

Only eight were in quarantine throughout their infectious periods, meaning seven were in the community while infectious.

A further 27,427 vaccine doses were administered and 40,737 test results were received in the reporting period.

Reported yesterday: 15 new local cases and 0 new cases acquired overseas.
– 27,427 vaccine doses were administered
– 40,737 test results were received

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/r5bmxogqNl
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 12, 2021

Two Sydney women have been slapped with massive fines after putting 46 people at risk by attempting to sneak into Melbourne.

The women boarded a flight to the Victorian capital using invalid permits on Monday.

They were caught once the flight landed, hit with $5500 fines and sent straight to hotel quarantine.

They later returned positive test results, potentially putting dozens of passengers and staff at risk.

Two infected Sydney women who tried to sneak into Melbourne on invalid permits have been handed MASSIVE fines. #9Today pic.twitter.com/m57rjLlTYe
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) August 12, 2021

Rashid strikes first ball

Nic Savage

Locked-down Victorians are in for more pain ahead, with stay-at-home orders set to continue well beyond next Thursday.

That's according to some of Australia's top health experts, who told the Herald Sun the lockdown was likely to be extended again, with restrictions set to remain in place for weeks if not months to come.

The head of Melbourne University’s School of Population and Global Health, Nancy Baxter, told the publication she thought it was "unlikely" restrictions would lift then, and that authorities would probably "move slower".

And when it comes to interstate travel, she said Victorians would be out of luck for months on end.

"For the next three or four months we just need to accept there’s no guarantee for interstate travel and plans," she said.