Victoria records 176 new local Covid-19 cases, 97 unlinked as lockdown to stretch into October

Victorian authorities have flagged two ‘concerning’ transmission hot spots as the state’s Covid-19 crisis spirals out of control.

Victorian authorities have revealed two concerning hot spots where transmission of the deadly virus is occurring during the state’s worsening Covid-19 outbreak.

The state recorded 176 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the highest spike in the state in 366 days, as the latest outbreak spirals out of control.

Of particular concern to health officials is rising case numbers at a call centre just south of the CBD and an infection at a backpackers in St Kilda.

Health Minister Martin Foley said 17 positive cases had now been linked to four Acquire call centre, and one was co-located with Healthcare Australia, which was assisting the federal government with the nation’s vaccine rollout.

Mr Foley said more than 400 primary close contacts had been isolated as a result of the call centre cluster.

He said all staff who worked from August 25 at the Acquire call centres had been classified as primary close contacts.

The second hot spot flagged by the Health Minister was the Base Backpackers in St Kilda where a positive case has been identified.

People enjoy the Spring weather along the Yarra River for their daily exercise as Melbourne is still in lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

That case was immediately move into hotel quarantine.

“Given the nature of the complex, and the shared communal facilities, we are working with our authorised officers, and with the residents there, to establish a public health response, and ensure that the residents can be quarantined to safely,” Mr Foley said.

Deputy chief health officer Ben Cowie said there was not one corner of metropolitan Melbourne that had not been touched by the virus.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said two venues were of concern to authorities. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“We have been seeing and continue to see high case numbers in the suburbs to the north and the west of Melbourne.

“We are still really concerned by the number of cases, and the trends we are seeing in the suburbs of Altona, Broadmeadows, and Truganina.

“We have seen a significant increase in suburbs throughout the south and east of Melbourne as well.”

The 176 new local cases is the highest daily spike in virus cases in more than a year, since 202 infections reported on August 22, 2020 during Victoria’s deadly second wave.

The health department confirmed the new local Covid-19 cases about 8.30am, as infections spiral out of control despite the state’s sixth lockdown.

Another 97 new mystery infections were announced within the cases, with the department revealing only 83 of the new cases could be linked to existing outbreaks.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says case will continue to go up. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

They did not say how many cases were in isolation during their infectious period.

Premier Daniel Andrews has conceded the case numbers will not go down.

“These last few days have seen a dramatic shift in the nature and the number of cases coming forward,” he said.

“We will not see these case numbers go down. They are going to go up. The question is by how many and how fast?

“What we must do is suppress case numbers sufficient to buy us time to get people vaccinated.”

Mr Andrews said some form of restrictions would need to remain in place in Victoria until the state reached the national threshold of 70 and 80 per cent of the population double dosed vaccinated.

There are now 1029 active cases across the state, up from 900 on Wednesday, with more than 13,800 people in isolation across the state.

Professor Cowie said 192 of the 1029 active cases were aged nine and under, 157 were aged between 10 and 19, and 243 were aged in their 20s.

No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Thursday.

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