Victoria records 14 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases as Premier hints when lockdown could end

Premier Dan Andrews has provided a hint on when Victoria’s fifth lockdown could end as the state recorded another 14 local virus cases.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the trend is heading in the right direction for the state to be able to come out of lockdown on Tuesday night.

While not committing yet to lifting the state’s fifth lockdown at 11.59pm on Tuesday, Mr Andrews said the results were very encouraging.

Victoria recorded 14 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections on Friday — all of which were linked to known outbreaks.

“It is difficult for us on Friday to be able to predict what will happen next Tuesday at midnight, but I would say that the trend is with us,” Mr Andrews told reporters.

“These results are very encouraging, they are positive. Whether the next few days continue that way we will only know with the passage of time.

Premier Daniel Andrews says the trend was with Victoria. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Daniel Pockett

“If everyone keeps playing their part and everyone keeps taking this lockdown seriously, and is really clear in their behaviour that if we do the right thing we will get the right outcome, we will be open.

“We will back to something approaching normal and we will have beaten this second Delta outbreak, something that no other jurisdiction anywhere in the world has done once let alone twice.”

When pressed on whether teachers should prepare for more remote learning, the Premier said: “No”.

“Let’s talk about the terms of post-Tuesday midnight when I announce those things, that is not for today,” he said.

“I will boldly predict it will be as close to that deadline as possible because we want the most complete picture.

“We are all working hard to get the rules off at midnight on Tuesday night.”

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the Prahran Market exposure site and two short route 86 tram trips made to the CBD on July 21 were the main unknowns for lifting lockdown.

“It is on track, but we need to see what today, tomorrow, the weekend brings,” Professor Sutton said.

The state’s health department confirmed the 14 new local virus cases about 9am, but in a positive sign for Victoria’s lockdown, all of the infections were linked to existing outbreaks stemming from NSW.

Victorian Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said all new cases were linked. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

The health department also said 10 of the 14 cases were in quarantine throughout their entire infectious period – 71 per cent of the new infections.

That figure had been as low as six per cent on Monday, but has risen significantly across the week.

The health department said one of the four cases not in isolation was still to be interviewed by contact tracers.

“If you look at that trend, it wasn’t so long ago, a week or so ago, we had less than 10 per cent, so less than one in 10 of our positive cases had been isolated, tucked away while they were at their infectious peak,” Mr Andrews said.

“We now have 75 per cent plus of our new cases isolated, no risk to public health, no risk to anybody else.

“That is a triumph of the work that our entire public health team is doing but it is also a testament to about 20,000 people who are at home isolating to keep everybody else safe.”

Victorian Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said Friday’s 14 new cases were linked to the following clusters:

• Four cases linked to AAMI Park — one who attended the game and three household contacts of a previous positive case that attended the game;
• Two cases linked to Ms Frankie restaurant — one staff member and one customer;
• Two cases associated with Trinity Grammar — both students; and
• One case each linked to St Patrick’s school in Murrumbeena, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, a household contact of the Phillip Island friendship group, a household contact of the City of Hume outbreak, a workplace contact of the West Gate tunnel project and one workplace contact of Young and Jackson’s pub.

One of the clusters has been linked to Ms Frankie cafe in Cremorne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

Victoria has now recorded 147 cases linked to the two outbreaks that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta cluster – one from a team of Sydney removalists that transited through the state and the other a family who returned to Melbourne’s north from a NSW red zone.

More than 19,000 primary close contacts have been identified during the state’s latest outbreak, with 6800 of those linked to the MCG, AAMI Park and Trinity Grammar.

Victoria’s fifth lockdown is set to last another six days until 11.59pm on July 27.

The number of active cases in Victoria at 158 — up from 146 on Wednesday.

[e-mail]