Coronavirus Victoria: Push to keep Melbourne under lockdown

A leading coronavirus expert has warned against lifting the city’s brutal COVID restrictions, claiming it could “blow out” the recovery plan.

(Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely has warned against easing the city’s restrictions too quickly, claiming it could “blow out” the recovery plan.

Appearing on Sunrise this morning, Professor Blakely was asked whether the government would ease restrictions before the key September 28 date if Melbourne got to a daily average of less than 50 cases by this weekend.

But Prof Blakely said while it would be “lovely” for Melburnians to have more freedom sooner, those liberties should only come “when we get to five or less cases for the end of October”.

“If we walk out earlier – say this weekend – from our current restrictions, it may push that time out, because we will slow down the fall in the virus, so it’s a really tricky decision,” he said.

“It might be better to aim at staying in lockdown for another two weeks unfortunately and then bring the next date forward,” he said.

“That is probably what I would advise, but it’s a tough call.”

Prof Blakely said “different countries are doing things differently” when it comes to handling the pandmeic, and that Australia had adopted a “tight suppression” approach.

Coronavirus restrictions are set to finally start to ease in parts of Victoria from midnight tonight.

Infectious diseases expert Professor Tony Blakely joined us with the latest on the state's virus battle.

More on this: https://t.co/NkVFH2ldL2 pic.twitter.com/s6MbgUPPEm

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) September 15, 2020