Victoria Covid news live: 208 new cases as Daniel Andrews hints at more freedoms
Victorians who choose not to get vaccinated face being “locked out” of extra freedoms like pubs, cinemas and sporting events, the Premier has revealed.
Welcome to our coverage of Victoria’s Covid-19 situation.
Victoria reached another grim new record on Friday, with the state confirming 208 new Covid-19 cases.
The spike in infection came after Premier Daniel Andrews warning earlier this week that Victorians “will not see these case numbers go down”.
This live blog has now ended. Read below for the main updates from the day.
Extra freedoms planned for vaccinated residents
Fully vaccinated Victorians will be offered more freedoms than residents who have refused to take up the Covid-19 vaccine, Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed.
Mr Andrews said when the state reaches 70 and 80 per cent of two dose vaccinations, there will be opportunities to open parts of the economy to those who have been fully vaccinated.
“To put it another way, when we get to those vaccination double-dose thresholds as part of the national plan, the notion of a lockdown of the whole community is far less relevant but what will become a bigger part of our response is a lockout of many, many venues for those who are not vaccinated,” he said.
“Now that might seem a bit harsh. But I’ve said this before and I’ll make the point again
that I’m not going to lock the whole state down to protect people who won’t protect themselves.”
Mr Andrews said when those rates are reached then people who have had the opportunity to be vaccinated but have chosen not to won’t be barred from things like sporting events, going to the pub and attending “all manner of different places”.
He said the places unvaccinated people can visit will be “very, very limited”.
“You will be able to participate in an economy, go to the pub, the cinema, to a sporting event. Things that an unvaccinated person will not be able to do. You will have freedoms that others will not have,” he said.
“They will be locked out of a whole range of venues because they could be vaccinated and they have chosen not to. That is the greatest incentive, to get our freedoms.”
Mr Andrews said trials will be run soon with a number of industries to test the introduction of extra freedoms for vaccinated residents and how a person will prove they have received their shots.
No cases in SA
More good news – there have been no local cases in South Australia today, and two new overseas acquired cases.
Cops release new protest pics
NSW Police have released a string of new images of people who participated in an illegal protest at Raymond Terrace last Tuesday morning, when around 30 people gathered outside the Port Stephens Council Chambers.
As investigations continue, police have released images of a number of people who may be able to assist with ongoing inquiries.
Anyone with information about the identity of the individuals – or has mobile phone footage of the protest activity – is urged to contact Crime Stoppers through the online portal or by contacting 1800 333 000.
Zero cases in WA
There’s some good news coming out of WA, with no new locally acquired cases.
Authorities are currently monitoring 10 active cases, including those from the MV Ken Hou vessel and two in hotel quarantine.
More freedoms could be coming for Vic
Victorians have been offered a bit of good news amid another day of record Covid-19 cases, with Premier Daniel Andrews hinting that extra restrictions could be eased in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday, Mr Andrews outlined a series of rules that would be eased when the state reaches a vaccination rate of 70 per cent of first doses.
It was originally forecast that the state would reach this milestone around September 23, however, a recent surge in vaccine uptake means these freedoms could be coming even sooner, with the Premier saying more changes could also be added.
“The more people we vaccinate, the quicker we get to 70 per cent first dose the quicker we will be able to deliver on those announcements we made the other day,” Mr Andrews said.
“We will be able to make those changes that we announced the other day perhaps earlier.”
He said there may be other restrictions, such as recreational activity and industry settings that could also be eased when that vaccine target is reached.
“It will need to be modest because of the situation we are in but we will have more options once we reach 70 per cent first dose.”
‘Undeniable’: Dan warns cases will rise
Premier Daniel Andrews has once again warned Victorians that the state’s Covid-19 cases will likely continue to rise and the aim now is to slow that increase as much as possible.
“What we have seen in recent days, we have to do everything we can as a community to stop that doubling and that means that no-one out there in the community should read into the fact we have been frank and honest, that we are not going to be driving this down to zero, that does not mean the rules are not ongoing,” he said.
Mr Andrews said Victorians now have to try even harder to ensure cases are contained as much as possible.
“We are going to see cases rise. The maps of this is undeniable but we have to slow the rate of increase. We need to see them go up as modestly and slowly as possible,” he said.
Aus secures four million Pfizer doses from UK
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that Australia will receive four million additional doses of Pfizer after signing a major deal with the UK.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Mr Morrison said the doses would arrive in Australia this month.
“There are four million reasons to be hopeful today,” he said.
“Because the government has been able to secure, with the government of the United Kingdom, a Pfizer swap deal which will see four million doses of Pfizer come to Australia this month.”
Mr Morrison said the first batch of the additional doses would arrive on Saturday.
“The plane is on the tarmac now. It will be leaving tomorrow,” he said.
The rest of the additional doses will arrive in the coming weeks.
Victoria records 208 cases
Victoria recorded 208 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to midnight last night.
This is the biggest spike in infections the state has seen during this latest outbreak.
The state also recorded one new death.
Of the new cases, 96 were linked to known cases and outbreaks and the source of 112 are still under investigation
More Pfizer vaccine doses for Victoria
The latest shipment of 500,000 Pfizer doses have touched down in Sydney as part of a vaccine swap deal made between Australia and Singapore, announced by the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
The half a million extra doses are set to expire soon, so have been sent to Aussie shores to help boost our low vaccination rate.
Victoria will get the second highest number of doses under the distribution, with 131,149 doses set aside for the state.
Victoria following ‘similar pattern’ to NSW
Chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, Professor Catherine Bennett, said Victoria’s outbreak is showing similarities to the way NSW’s situation unfolded.
With another rise in cases today, Professor Bennett said the state can expect cases to continue to climb by about 20 per cent every few days.
“The overall trend is definitely one where we are seeing a similar pattern, with the reproductive number held around 1.2 or 1.3,” she told Sunrise.
“It still means a 20 per cent climb every four or five days, so we have to be mindful, the overall numbers will trend up, and that is why it’s so important we get the vaccinations happening as soon as possible, because that is what will help push the reproductive number down and stop this inevitable climb.
“As numbers get bigger, the jump gets bigger, but you’ll still see bigger jumps like yesterday. But we’ve got to manage this so it doesn’t keep rising at the same rate, because exponential growth means daily jumps look bigger.”
Beachgoers defy lockdown orders on horror day
Hundreds of people packed Melbourne’s beaches on Thursday, with many seen defying lockdown restrictions despite the state recording it’s worst day of the outbreak so far.
The warm weather saw crowds descend on Elwood Beach, with groups seen drinking alcohol on the sand and dancing as they played music through portable speakers, The Herald Sun reports.
Many of the beachgoers were also seen not wearing masks as they relaxed on the sand, while others were seen having picnics at the nearby park.
Under Victoria’s current lockdown restrictions, residents can only leave their homes to shop for necessary goods and services, caregiving and compassionate needs, authorised work or permitted education, exercise for two hours a day or to get a Covid-19 vaccination.
Exercise is only permitted with one other person, plus dependants and residents must stay within 5km of their home.
Face masks must also been worn indoors and outdoors whenever a person leaves home, though can be removed in a public place when consuming food, medicine or non-alcoholic drinks.
Big crowds were also seen at St Kilda, where a larger police presence meant officers were cracking down on rule-breakers.
This was the same day Victoria confirmed it’s biggest infection spike in more than a year, with 176 new Covid cases on Thursday.
Time between AZ vaccinations halved
Victorians now have the option of waiting just six weeks to get their second AstraZeneca vaccine shot, under a new push from the government to ramp up vaccination rates.
“Today, I can also announce that dosage interval – so the spacing between the first and the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in Victoria – will be revised down from 12 weeks to 6 weeks in all of our state-run services,” Health Minister Martin Foley said on Thursday.
“So that matches the dosage interval for the Pfizer vaccine, so it will be six weeks for AstraZeneca and for Pfizer bookings going forward. And these changes will be active in the booking system from today.”
Workplaces, households driving spike in cases
Transmission in workplaces and households are the main drivers behind Victoria’s surge in Covid-19 cases.
Acting chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie said this didn’t necessarily mean people in these settings were doing the wrong thing, it was just easier for the virus to spread, especially with such a large number of active cases in the community.
“There is transmission in the community, transmission in workplaces. We need to work with workplaces to ensure every Covid safe guideline is being applied. It is critical to work from home if you can do that, and only authorised workers should be out,” he said.
“We also note there is significant community transmission between households. we get that we are all desperate to see extended family, but right now that is the worst thing we can do. The last thing anyone wants to see or think is that they have put their loved ones at risk. That’s a horrible thing for someone to reflect on.
“It is challenging – can I acknowledge that seeing these kinds of numbers is challenging for everyone and adds the exhaustion we feel. But, if not for everything we have done, we wouldn’t be talking about cases in hundreds, we’d be talking about cases in their thousands.”
‘Stay at home’: New Covid wave surges
Another wave of Covid-19 is surging across one Aussie state, with authorities urging residents to have a new booster jab.
‘Really did erode trust’: Shock Covid apology
The apology follows a major report into Australia’s response to the pandemic that found trust in vaccination programs has declined.
‘Another one’: Grim pandemic warning
Australia’s health minister is issuing a grim warning about the country’s ability to weather another pandemic.