Coronavirus Australia: Premier’s plea for early tests as Victorian cases hit new spike of 80

Victorians are testing positive ‘seven or eight days’ after developing symptoms as state posts 80 new cases and record vaccination numbers.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has urged people to get tested for coronavirus as soon as they develop symptoms, saying many of Wednesday’s positive cases had been symptomatic for up to eight days before presenting for a test.

It comes as Victoria recorded 80 new locally acquired cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Thursday, representing the highest daily caseload since the state recorded 110 cases on September 2, 2020, as its second wave receded.

There are 36 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Thursday, including 11 in intensive care, of whom, eight are on ventilators.

This compares with 36 in hospital on Wednesday, including nine in intensive care, of whom seven were on ventilators.

There has been a sharp increase in hospitalisations since Friday, when there were 15 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus.

Of the 80 new cases, 67 have been linked to previously known outbreaks, while 13 remain under investigation for a source of acquisition.

Reported yesterday: 80 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
- 33,932 vaccine doses were administered
- 56,248 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/mca8o1PZIW

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 25, 2021

Almost half of the cases – 39 – were in quarantine throughout their infectious period, meaning 41 spent time in the community while infectious.

The 13 new cases with no established source of acquisition add to 46 cases which were under investigation as of Wednesday, after 10 were linked to clusters in the previous 24 hours.

‘Don’t wait eight days’

Victoria recorded its highest testing number since July 20’s record of 59,355 on Wednesday, with 56,248 tests processed to midnight.

Mr Andrews said case numbers would fall if people followed the rules.

“One of the common sense, practical things you can do: if you have symptoms today, get tested today,” Mr Andrews said.

“Don’t, for heaven’s sake, wait eight days and literally infect everybody you come anywhere near in that eight day period.

“Please, do not be visiting friends and family because the visitor no-one knows about is the coronavirus. You are taking it with you to the people you love.

“You do not want them to get sick, so do not act in a selfish and irresponsible way.”

Record vaccination numbers

Victoria’s 55 state-run vaccination clinics delivered a record number of vaccinations, with 33,942 doses given on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of additional doses were administered by GPs, pharmacists and community health clinics.

The record comes after Pfizer doses were for the first time offered to 16 to 39-year-olds on Wednesday.

Victorians on Wednesday made more than a million attempts to book vaccination appointments through the health department’s website and hotline, with 230,000 bookings made.

“That is challenging but I can tell you that the system does work,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.

“It is one of those things that it is inevitable with so much demand for such a precious and limited quantity of product.”

Mr Andrews said his 17-year-old daughter, Grace, had been among those who secured an appointment.

“Grace got an appointment at around dinnertime after being on and off the website from 6am yesterday. No different to any other family,” Mr Andrews said.

“The system does work and she has got an appointment on Sunday, but not all of her friends were able to get an appointment and I would encourage people to go back and stick to it because it is the way out of restrictions and out of our hospitals being overwhelmed and our way back to normal life.”

Mr Andrews said there were still appointments yet to be booked, and more would be made available when more Pfizer supply is secured via the federal government.

“That race to 80 per cent (vaccination) is incredibly important to every one of us. Every single jab plays an important part in us getting to that milestone,” he said.

Call for ADF help at Shepparton

Meanwhile, the Andrews government has dispatched Deputy Emergency Management Commissioner Deb Abbott to Shepparton, and requested ADF assistance, as the northern Victorian regional centre battles a coronavirus outbreak.

The number of cases linked to the Shepparton cluster grew by 18 to 67 on Thursday.

About 16,000 Shepparton locals are in isolation as primary and secondary close contacts – representing almost a quarter of Greater Shepparton’s population – and leaving crucial essential services without staff.

“Supermarkets, the post office, every part of life in Shepparton and across the Goulburn Valley has been impacted by the fact that many people are not at work,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Pop-up COVID testing site at Shepparton Sport Precinct. Picture: David Caird

“They may not have the virus but they may have been exposed.”

Mr Andrews said Ms Abbott had travelled to Shepparton on Wednesday night to work in partnership with other senior officials across government in co-ordinating relief.

“It is no different to a bushfire or flood. The emergency management architecture will be in place but it will be in the main very, very simple things: taking food to people’s doorstep, getting scripts filled,” Mr Andrews said.

He said volunteer organisations such as FareShare and the Red Cross would also assist with tasks such as food supply.

“There will be a request for some ADF personnel to support us in that work, and as soon as we are in a position to update you on that we will,” Mr Andrews said.

Lockdown warning

As Victorians mark three weeks in their sixth lockdown, Mr Andrews warned the lockdown would last longer if the rules were not followed.

“We do not have enough people vaccinated today to let these rules off,” Mr Andrews said.

Of 615 community-acquired cases confirmed in the fortnight to Thursday, 262, or 43 per cent, have been in quarantine for the duration of their infectious period — steady with 43 per cent in the fortnight to Wednesday, but down from an outbreak peak of 50 per cent in the fortnight to last Thursday.

The 39 of Thursday’s cases who did not spend time in the community while infectious represent 49 per cent of the total 80 cases, up from 38 per cent on Wednesday and 22 per cent on Tuesday.

Thursday’s 80 new cases follow 45 on Wednesday, 51 on Tuesday, the previous outbreak peak of 71 on Monday, 65 on Sunday, 61 on Saturday, 55 on Friday, and 57 last Thursday.

The current outbreak emerged just over three weeks ago, amid short-lived celebrations of a zero case day on August 4 – the day before the state’s sixth lockdown was announced.

There are currently 600 active cases, including up to four active cases acquired overseas.

Another Melbourne hospital becomes exposure site

It comes as another hospital has been caught up in Victoria’s coronavirus outbreak, with the emergency department at Monash Health in Melbourne’s southeast listed as a Tier 1 exposure site overnight.

The listing comes as the Royal Melbourne Hospital battles a cluster of cases sparked by a patient from the northern Victorian town of Shepparton who was not tested for the virus prior to having planned surgery, and amid news that the state is flying in 350 medicos from overseas to address a worker shortage as Covid and rolling lockdowns put unprecedented pressure on the state’s health system.