As it happened: Victoria COVID updates: Seven day state-wide lockdown to begin tonight as state records 12 new local COVID-19 cases

The Victorian COVID-19 update, which went for well over an hour, has ended.

To recap:

• Victoria will go into circuit-breaker lockdown for seven days from 11.59pm after the state recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19
• One patient is now in intensive care and at least 10,000 primary and secondary contacts identified
• There are now five reasons to leave home: care and caregiving, exercise, work and to buy groceries – and now Victorians can also leave to get vaccinated
• Those aged 40 to 49 eligible for the Pfizer vaccine from Friday
• Elective surgery has been suspended
• Schools will move to remote learning
• Childcare and kindergartens will remain open
• Restaurants, pubs and cafes will offer takeaway only
• Sporting venues and pools will close and entertainment venues including Crown casino will shut their doors
• People must wear face masks everywhere outside their own homes

Thanks so much for joining us today as we covered the state being sent into lockdown yet again because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We appreciate the support from so many readers and all your comments and interactions.

These blogs require input from scores of our staff, often while also working on website or print duties.

We will be back again early tomorrow morning with another free COVID-19 live blog so please join us then.

Before I go, here is a quick rundown of the major events from today.

Seven-day circuit breaker - Victoria goes into lockdown

Exodus from Melbourne as lockown looms

Vaccine could go to under-40s if outbreak continues

What are the restrictions this lockdown?

Lockdown Q&A - we try to answer your lockdown questions.

Thanks again for joining us. We will see you again early tomorrow morning and I’ll be on the AFL Friday footy blog tomorrow, but I hope to see you all again on the COVID-19 blog this weekend.

Bye for now.

The “devastated” organisers of Melbourne’s RISING festival have vowed to find a way to show audiences the work created for them, despite being forced to shut down the huge winter arts festival barely a day into its 11-day season.

The inaugural RISING, which opened Wednesday evening and was to comprise more than 133 events and projects featuring over 750 Victorian artists, was paused on Thursday from 5pm, with everything cancelled until the end of June 3 in line with the government-imposed lockdown.

RISING co-artistic directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek.Credit: Sarah Walker

“I wish I had other words to describe it, but devastated is mostly the feeling,” said co-artistic director Gideon Obarzanek.

Click here to read the story.

Belle Property auctioneer Marshall Rushford said COVID-19 failed to halt the sale of 4/95 Tennyson Street in Elwood, the agency fast-tracking the action to 6pm tonight.

Close to 70 people packed the nearby streets in the dark to watch as Mr Rushford sold the property at auction for $653,000.

An Elwood property was sold at auction on Thursday night ahead of the snap lockdown.

“We had the auction scheduled for Saturday, but when the news came through we thought, let’s bring it forward,” he said.

“We sent a text blast out and changed our listing on Domain.

“We had half a dozen people bidding.”

Two food outlets at DFO South Wharf and the shopping centre’s food court are three of 15 new sites added this evening to the Health Department’s list of venues attended by people with COVID-19.

The list is now out to 117 entries.

All the DFO venues are listed as tier 2, meaning anyone who was there at the specified times (see the list below) need to isolate until they test negative for COVID-19.

Southern Cross Station also makes an appearance on the list, with Network Public Bar, a pub located within the transport hub, being added as a tier-1 site, meaning anyone who was there from 3.30pm to 5pm on Sunday needs to get tested and isolate for 14 days no matter the result.

Two other locations within the busy station, a Hungry Jacks outlet and the public toilets under the Bourke Street bridge, have also been listed, but as tier-2 exposure sites.

The new additions are listed below and take the official tally to 117 sites, although the Bamboo House restaurant in the city appears to be listed twice with the same exposure times (we’ve called to let them know).

We’ll add them to our searchable table early tomorrow morning.

South Wharf
Roll’d DFO
DFO South Wharf, 20 Convention Center Place
24/05/2021 12:15pm - 1:15pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

South Wharf
Boost Juice DFO
DFO South Wharf, 20 Convention Center Place
South Wharf VIC 3006
24/05/2021 12:15pm - 1:15pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

South Wharf
DFO Food Court
DFO South Wharf, 20 Convention Center Place
South Wharf VIC 3006
24/05/2021 12:15pm - 1:15pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Tullamarine
7-Eleven Tullamarine (Carrick Drive)
182 Melrose Drive
Tullamarine VIC 3043
22/05/2021 11:50am - 11:55am
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Port Melbourne
Hunky Dory Fish & Chips
3/181 Bay Street
Port Melbourne VIC 3207
21/05/2021 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 1

Docklands
Southern Cross Station, Toilets Under Bourke Street Bridge
14/99 Spencer Street
Docklands VIC 3059
23/05/2021 7:35pm - 8:15pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Greenvale
Chemist Warehouse
Shop 4, 212 - 220 Greenvale Drive
Greenvale VIC 3059
25/05/2021 12:50pm - 1:30pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Mickleham
Botanical Display Homes (Botanical Display Village)
23-25 Poppy Street
Mickleham VIC 3063
23/05/2021 11:15am - 1:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Moonee Ponds
Moonee Valley Football Club - Ormond Park (Airport Toyota Womens Division 1 game)
2A Pattison Steet
Moonee Ponds VIC 3039
22/05/2021 12:00pm - 5:30pm
Case attended football game
Tier 2

Moonee Ponds
Moonee Valley Football Club - Ormond Park Function Room/Bar
2A Pattison Steet
Moonee Ponds VIC 3039
22/05/2021 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 1

Moonee Ponds
Moonee Valley Football Club - Ormond Park (Change Rooms)
2A Pattison Steet
Moonee Ponds VIC 3039
22/05/2021 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 1

Craigieburn
The Coffee Club - Craigieburn Central
Craigieburn Central, Shop B00, 15/350 Craigieburn Road
Craigieburn VIC 3064
23/05/2021 10:00am - 11:30am
Case attended venue
Tier 1

Docklands
Network Public Bar
14/99 Spencer Street
Docklands VIC 3008
23/05/2021 3:30pm - 5:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 1

Docklands
Hungry Jacks - Southern Cross Station
14/99 Spencer Street
Docklands VIC 3006
23/05/2021 7:30pm - 7:40pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

You can check our interactive exposure site list below or visit the state government page for the most recent list.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has revealed staff and residents at 74 aged care facilities are yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mr Hunt was quizzed by the ABC about a February 16 media release in which the government said it would take approximately six weeks to roll out the vaccine to all aged care facilities.

Health minister Greg Hunt.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Hunt told ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night the rollout was yet to be completed, saying people at 74 facilities still needed vaccines, although that number would fall after Thursday’s locations were ticked off.

“In Victoria, we have nine [facilities] to complete tomorrow [Friday],” Mr Hunt said before being asked how many nationally remained to be done.

“We haven’t had today’s figures come in. We had 74 still to go.”

Mr Hunt said various factors like gastro outbreaks or flu shots delayed some of the rollout.

“We have had 98 per cent around Australia,” Mr Hunt said.

“Almost 99 per cent in Victoria and in some cases they had issues whether it was a gastro outbreak or had the flu vaccine.

“Given the epidemiological situation in Victoria, the Chief Medical Officer, after consulting with the advisory group on immunisation, has been able to bring forward the period between the flu vaccine and the doses which are now to be given tomorrow.”

Mr Hunt wouldn’t be drawn on whose fault it was that the rollout was almost two months behind, saying it was the fault of “the Australian government”.

Months after the Morrison government nominated the elderly as the priority in Australia’s immunisation rollout, sixteen aged care homes in Victoria have not had any coronavirus vaccine shots.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the government’s aged care vaccination program, saying 97 per cent of homes around Australia had now received at least their first vaccine dose.

Abe Schwarz with his mum Tess at her aged care facility.

But under concerted attack from the federal opposition on Thursday, Mr Hunt acknowledged that 16 of Victoria’s 598 aged care homes had not had any doses delivered to either residents or workers.

Click here to read the story.

Victoria’s Health Department has revealed around 14,000 Victorians are currently quarantining for 14 days or self-isolating as they await a negative COVID-19 test result.

As contact tracing continues on the 26 active cases linked to the Whittlesea cluster, the Chief Health Officer’s evening update said it expected the number of people in quarantine would grow.

People were waiting about 200 minutes for COVID-19 testing in Melbourne on Thursday morning.Credit: Wayne Taylor

The 12 new cases formally reported on Thursday, which included one case that had been flagged by acting Premier James Merlino on Wednesday, were all from the City of Whittlesea council area, but exposure sites continued to be found in other parts of the city and even some regional locations.

The government also said 12,677 doses of vaccine were administered on Wednesday taking the total number of doses to 398,009.

The update said more than 40,000 tests were processed on Wednesday, with 196 testing centres in operation, including 40 with new or extended operating hours.

The government will add more staff and more lanes in key testing sites in response to the jump in demand over the past few days.

Six new testing sites were “being established” on Thursday across Brighton, Werribee, Ascot Vale, Cheltenham, East Reservoir and Coburg.

More information on testing sites and waiting times can be found here.

On a good note, the returned traveller who presented to health services in Ballarat with a weak positive earlier this week has undergone further tests which have come back negative, allowing those who came into contact with him to come out of isolation.

The Victorian Chief Health Officer’s evening update has offered some explanation as to why so many people struggled to speak to anyone when calling the coronavirus hotline today.

The email said 77,000 calls were received in a 15-minute window this morning, but the “significant demand caused a number of technical issues”, which network providers manged to successfully address during the day.

Many of the callers were seeking information on vaccines or trying to book a vaccine appointment.

The statement asaid more resources would be added to increase capacity.

UPDATED: There have been a further nine likely cases of the rare blood clotting disorder, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In its weekly COVID-19 vaccine safety report, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said there were six were confirmed TTS cases in the week of May 17 to 23.

AstraZeneca vaccines ready to be administered in Perth earlier this month.Credit: Getty Images

These cases were in two women from NSW (a 60-year-old and an 82-year-old), a 72-year-old male from WA, a 51-year-old woman from WA, a 73-year-old woman from Victoria and a 63-year-old man from Queensland.

In addition, there were three possible cases of TSS recorded.

They are an 85-year-old woman from NSW, a 62-year-old man from Victoria and a 76-year-old woman from Victoria.

Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has estimated the risk of TTS from the AstraZeneca jab in Australia is about 2.6 cases per 100,000 in those younger than 50, and 1.6 per 100,000 in people older than 50.

This takes the total Australian reports of cases assessed as TTS following the AstraZeneca vaccine to 27 confirmed cases and six probable cases.

A 48-year-old woman who died in April is the only confirmed death from TSS after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine

“It is important to highlight that due to better awareness, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the outcome and prognosis of the majority of those who have experienced this syndrome is good,” the TGA said in its report.

There are currently 34 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria.

Of these, 26 are locally acquired cases and the remaining eight are returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

The map below, made using Health Department data, shows the postcode of residence of the 26 locally acquired cases, but excludes the international arrivals:

Postcode 3076 (Epping) has eight active cases, 3083 (Bundoora and Kingsbury) has two active cases and a further 16 postcodes have one active case.

Keep in mind that the map just shows area of residence – it does not mean people contracted the virus in these postcodes.

Check out the full article here.