Coronavirus Australia live: Victorian cases mark 'second resurgence' of virus

Authorities have noticed a concerning change in the recent COVID-19 cases recorded in Australia compared to those that were detected a few weeks ago.

Gavin Fernando, Sarah McPhee and Ally Foster

less than 2 min read

July 6, 2020 - 6:58PM

Victoria in the grip of a secondary surge (ACA)

Authorities have noticed a concerning change in the recent COVID-19 cases recorded in Australia compared to those that were detected a few weeks ago.

Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd has confirmed Victoria is in the grip of a "secondary significant surge" in coronavirus infections and admitted authorities "don't know what will happen" in terms of whether school holiday travellers will lead to more outbreaks elsewhere.

Speaking to A Current Affair on Monday night, Professor Kidd said:"We don't know if there may have been any risk of transmission of people who have been holidaying in NSW from Victoria."

"We have certainly seen, over the last few days, some people who travelled from Victoria from lockdown areas into NSW and of course, now we have the lockdown coming into place tomorrow night. But again, that message, it only takes one person with the infection to spread to many other people. Please, if you have symptoms, stay at home and arrange to get tested."

It came after Victoria recorded 127 new cases overnight, marking a record spike.

Australia has recorded a total 8397 cases of COVID-19, with 3240 in New South Wales, 2660 in Victoria, 1067 in Queensland, 443 in South Australia, 621 in Western Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 108 in the Australian Capital Territory and 30 in the Northern Territory.

Australia’s coronavirus death toll now sits at 106 after two men died in Victoria.

Our rolling coverage has ended for the evening. Here's how today played out.

Updates

Resident warns of cramped conditions inside towers

Residents from inside Melbourne's locked down towers have described how cramped their communal living conditions are and how easily the virus can spread.

Speaking to the ABC's 7:30, one unnamed resident told the show he had not stepped foot outside since lockdown began and some members of the community didn't understand it.

"If you see the conditions that we live in, the size of these buildings the communal corridors and lifts that we share, then you would be concerned about how easily coronavirus can be spread in these communities," he said.

"A lot of members of our community are scared of a backlash."

"It looks like we are the only people in Australia who are poor, we are not heeding the restrictions, we're spreading the virus, we don't care about anybody else. And that's far from the truth."

“Can’t go out for exercise, can’t go out for work, can’t go get groceries.” Residents tell 7.30 what it’s like inside the Melbourne public housing towers completely locked down due to #coronavirus. More tonight #abc730 @ashmcghee @martymccarthy1 pic.twitter.com/Ii3mRUcr6m
— abc730 (@abc730) July 6, 2020

Professor Kidd: 'We don't know what will happen'

Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd has told A Current Affair it's too early to tell if any cases could be detected in NSW from school holiday travellers and declined to refer to Victoria's outbreak as a "second wave" of the pandemic.

Tracy Grimshaw asked Professor Kidd on Monday night if the country should "brace ourselves over the next two weeks" to see if Victorians from lockdown areas travelled in the school holidays, potentially leading to virus outbreaks elsewhere.

"We don't know what will happen," he replied. "We don't know if there may have been any risk of transmission of people who have been holidaying in NSW from Victoria."

Asked by Grimshaw if the 127 cases recorded on Monday meant the start of a second wave of the virus, Professor Kidd said it was a "secondary significant surge in infections."

"Whether you use the term second wave, I am not sure the term is being bandied around very widely to describe lots of things, but certainly we are seeing a second resurgence occurring in Victoria and it is very concerning."

"When we talk about the second wave, and often it is used in the context of the Spanish flu pandemic, what happened was the infection spread right across the country and resulted in even greater numbers of cases and greater numbers of fatalities than occurred in the first wave," he said.

"That is not what we are seeing at the moment in Melbourne, we're seeing an outbreak that is at the moment confined to the city of Melbourne, particularly in those lockdown areas, and we have a very rigorous response underway."

Coles and Woolies remove buying limits

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are removing purchase limits put in place after the latest wave of panic buying, except for one notable product exception.

The limits had been placed on several items when coronavirus cases began their current spike last month in Victoria, sparking stockpiling.

Coles announced it will drop all limits on purchases at its supermarkets, express stores and for online orders from Tuesday.

Woolworths followed, saying it will drop limits on all products – except for toilet paper.

Woolworths said it would "not hesitate to reinstate product limits if needed".

– Candace Sutton

Isolation 'may not be possible' in towers

Deputy chief medical officer Professor Michael Kidd has conceded those to test positive for COVID-19 in Melbourne's locked down public housing towers may not be able to follow isolation advice.

Appearing on A Current Affair on Monday night, he was asked by host Tracy Grimshaw whether the 53 people who have so far tested positive in the North Melbourne and Flemington estates are being isolated from their family members or flatmates.

"Or is it being accepted that if there are three people living in a unit and one is infected, the other two are going to get it?" Grimshaw asked.

"Because they are very small units, it is hard to physically distance."

Prof Kidd said he wasn't aware of the exact circumstances "in each of the units where people are being diagnosed" but the normal health advice is that someone in a household who tests positive for COVID-19 is to isolate themselves from others.

The advice from the federal health department for those living with other people while in isolation includes "staying alone in your own room", "using a different bathroom, if possible" and "avoiding shared areas".

Household items should not be shared and isolated people should not be in the same room as others.

"If you share your home with others, you should limit your contact with them," the department states.

However, Prof Kidd told Grimshaw: "As you point out, in very small apartments, especially if they are crowded, this may not be possible."

Melbourne to Sydney XPT to stop services

The Melbourne to Sydney XPT train service will cease from tomorrow after NSW announced it would shut the border with Victoria.

The train will still continue to operate between Albury and Sydney Central.

The Melbourne to Sydney XPT passenger train service will cease from tomorrow. It will only operate Albury to Sydney Central services for now.
— Josh Bavas (@JoshBavas) July 6, 2020

It comes after a man who arrived in Sydney on the XPT service on Saturday was rushed to quarantine after showing flu-like symptoms.

The man was on board an XPT train from Victoria with 59 others that arrived at Central Station on Saturday morning. He had boarded the train in regional NSW.

The train arrived at 7.30am and the man told health authorities he was not feeling well and had presented with flu-like symptoms, NSW Health said.

“He did all the right things,” a NSW Health spokesperson said.

It is understood he was then taken to an inner-city hotel to isolate while awaiting a test result.

PM backs decision to close NSW border

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the decision to close NSW's border with Victoria was "regrettable" but needed to be done.

Speaking on 2GB, Mr Morrison said he spoke with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews this morning ahead of the border closure announcement.

"We agreed that now's the time for Victoria to isolate itself from the rest of the country," he told the radio station.

"What's different here is that this isn't other states closing their borders to Victoria, this is Victoria understanding the need to contain an outbreak."

"It's regrettable that this has been necessary, we're one country and that's important, but so is maintaining our strong health performance through COVID – all the other states and territories have virtually no community transmission, if any."

Picture: Terry Cunningham/NCA NewsWire

Two suspected COVID-19 cases in Albury

An investigation is underway after two suspected cases of COVID-19 returned positive preliminary test results in Albury.

One suspected case had recently recently travelled to Melbourne and had returned prior to hotspot travel restrictions coming into force.

Further testing is underway and, as a precaution, close contacts of the suspected cases have been placed into isolation.

"NSW Health urges residents in the Albury area who develop even the mildest symptoms to come forward for testing," NSW Health said in a statement.

"The Murrumbidgee Local Health District will be opening a pop-up clinic at Mirambeena Community Centre, 19 Martha Mews, Lavington from 9.30am tomorrow to ensure additional testing capacity is available."

$1000 for fleeing NSW quarantine

A woman has copped a $1000 fine after fleeing her mandatory hotel quarantine in Sydney over the weekend.

At about 10pm on Saturday police were informed by a security contractor that a woman had breached a quarantine order and fled a hotel on Pitt St.

"Officers were told a guard had confronted the 39-year-old woman as she approached a fire exit and following a short struggle, she ran through the exit and was chased on foot before disappearing from sight," NSW Police said in a statement.

"The guard returned to the hotel and reported the incident to his supervisor, who alerted police inside the hotel."

Police conducted a search and located the woman at Circular Quay at about 10.45pm.

She was returned to the hotel before being taken to hospital for an assessment.

She was released from hospital a short time later and transferred to a hotel managed by NSW Health.

The 39-year-old was handed a $1000 fine for not complying with noticed direction under the Public Health Act.

"As part of inquiries into the incident, police attended the woman’s room and noted the sprinkler systems had been significantly damaged," NSW Police said.

"Inquiries into the damage are underway and legal action is expected to be taken."

ACT matches NSW's border restrictions

From midnight on Tuesday anyone attempting to enter the ACT from Victoria will be denied entry, unless an exemption has been granted.

Residents returning to the ACT from Victoria will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks.

ACT will beef up restrictions on travellers from Victoria

From tomorrow 7 July:
ALL PASSENGERS FROM MELBOURNE arriving on flights into #Canberra will have ID checked. Hotspot residents/visitors req'd to self-isolate for 14 days at their own expense or go home.#covid19aus
— Anna Vidot (@AnnaVidot) July 6, 2020

Cases detected at two Vic abattoirs

Two workers at Victorian abattoirs have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

One case was detected at JBS abattoir in Brooklyn and the other was detected at Pacific Meats abattoir in Thomastown.

All staff at each site are being tested.

Victoria Health's outbreak squad will visit JBS today to ensure the appropriate public health actions are taken.

Pacific Meats has been closed.

Other cases include:

– 16 cases relating to the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers, taking the total number of cases to 53.

– One new case linked to the Truganina family outbreak, a close contact of a known case, taking the total number of cases linked to the outbreak to 16.

– 14 new cases linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak, all previously identified school contacts. The total number of linked cases is now 77.

– Two new cases linked to the Patterson Lakes/Lysterfield family outbreak, both close contacts of known cases, taking the total to 15.

– One new case linked to the Camberwell Grammar School outbreak, taking the total to four.

– One case in a healthcare worker at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a close contact of a known case.

– One case in a healthcare worker at the Alfred Hospital. It’s believed the worker attended the site while infectious. Contact tracing is under way.

– One case in a worker from the Woolworths online fulfillment centre. It’s believed the person worked shifts while infectious and the contact tracing process is underway.