Victoria records 55 new local Covid-19 cases as Dan Andrews threatens more restrictions
Daniel Andrews has threatened tougher lockdown restrictions if people don’t comply with the rules this weekend.
Daniel Andrews could impose tougher lockdown laws if Victorians continue to flout the restrictions.
The Premier’s stark warning came as the state recorded 55 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections on Friday.
Less than half of those were in isolation during their infectious period.
Mr Andrews said it was a bad day for the state.
“It’s not just delicate, it’s not a tipping point, we are right on the edge of this getting away from us,” he told reporters.
The state’s health department said 49 of the 55 new local cases could be linked to existing outbreaks but alarmingly only 25 positive people were in isolation during their infectious period.
Six of the new infections were mystery cases.
“That is a very significant challenge, making today a bad day … this is very serious, very serious indeed,” Mr Andrews said.
“I have no restriction announcements or rule changes but I can’t rule that out, ministers and public health officials will be sitting down this afternoon, this evening and into tomorrow determining whether there is any more we can do in terms of rules and settings to try and pull this up.”
The Premier said he could also not rule out another lockdown for regional Victoria as he confirmed there was a positive case in Shepparton.
Mr Andrews said all Victorians needed to follow the rules otherwise the state would end up like Sydney.
“If we have a weekend this weekend like last weekend, next week it will be like Sydney,” he said.
“Simple as that. This will get away from us. We’ve got too many mystery cases out
there, we need people to come forward and get tested when they have symptoms, not a day or three days later.
“What we know for certain is if we have another weekend where people think it’s over because they want it to be over, the rules don’t apply to them, it’s someone else’s job to follow the rules, this will spread and it will fundament the get away from us.
“We will all play a price for that.”
Mr Andrews said everybody needed to play their part across the weekend so the state didn’t end up like NSW.
“We don’t want that here, we’ve had it before, but not with Delta and if we get it again, it will mean that kids will get this, people of all ages will get this, people who are fit and healthy will finish up in hospital and people will die,” he said.
“I cannot stress enough how close to the edge we are if we don’t all make good choices this weekend.
“I won’t be reporting 50 something cases next week, I’ll be reporting a lot more than that, then it will be away from us.”
LATEST VICTORIAN CASE DETAILS
Victoria’s daily figure of 55 on Friday continued the sharp spike in cases over the past two days, which has been linked to those in quarantine since the start of the latest outbreak reaching day 13 testing.
Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said 14 of Friday’s 55 cases were from day 13 quarantine testing linked to Al-Taqwa College, three were connected to Glenroy West Primary School and four were associated with Newport Football Club.
He said two were linked to Newport Elite Gym, four with Pizza Central in Malvern, six were linked to two emerging clusters in St Kilda, one from 510 Lygon St housing tower and two household contacts from Altona North.
Another case was associated with a positive infection from Doncaster East that was identified on Thursday, while 13 new cases were associated with the MyCentre Multicultural Youth centre in Broadmeadows.
There was also a case from a domestic cabin crew member who lives in Tullamarine, a positive police officer who lives in Pakenham, a case in Point Cook, another in Port Melbourne and the final case in Brunswick.
Mr Weimar said health authorities has been notified of an additional case in Shepparton, a man in his 30s, on Friday morning that would be included in Saturday’s numbers.
He said St Kilda and the local government areas of Port Phillip and Glen Eira remained a key concern for health authorities after multiple mystery cases.
“There was a good response to the call to test yesterday with 1700 tests undertaken at St Kilda sites including 400 tests at the new drive-through and walk-in testing site at the Palais Theatre car park,” the health department said in a statement.
“The call to test for St Kilda and surrounding areas was made due to a growing number of unlinked cases in an area stretching from the outer areas of Middle Park to North Caulfield, across the LGAs of Port Phillip and Glen Eira.
“There is also potential transmission along Fitzroy St and other commercial areas in St Kilda.
“People must get tested if they have been to exposure sites, or if they have had any symptoms – but the department’s public health teams are asking for more people to come forward for testing across the region, even if they aren’t currently showing symptoms.”
There are now more than 530 exposure sites in multiple suburbs across metropolitan Melbourne and more than 10,000 people remain in isolation across the state.
There are now 349 active cases across the state, up from 296 on Thursday.
Two new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Friday.
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