Coronavirus: Melbourne lockdown extended as mystery cases rise

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has extended Melbourne’s ‘seven day’ lockdown by another seven days.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at a coronavirus update in Melbourne. Picture: David Geraghty

The Andrews government is preparing for the possibility of Melbourne’s sixth lockdown lasting as long as three weeks, after ­Daniel Andrews on Wednesday announced he was extending a seven-day lockdown by at least another seven days.

While a decision on further lockdown extensions is unlikely to be made until next week, The Australian understands the government is working on financial support packages that can be ­extended should the lockdown go beyond 11.59pm on August 19.

The government is expected to make an announcement on Thursday regarding business support to cover the extra seven days confirmed on Wednesday.

The lockdown extension comes after just 20 of 100 coronavirus cases identified in the most recent outbreaks were in quarantine for the duration of their infectious period, and as five “mystery” cases were found on Tuesday.

Of 20 cases in Wednesday’s numbers, 14 had been in quarantine for the duration of their infectious period.

Announcing the lockdown ­extension, Mr Andrews said the number of unlinked or mystery cases was “the most important number”.

“This is very challenging, I know, for every single Victorian who would like to be going about their business – they would like to be open and have a degree of freedom,” he said.

“That is simply not possible because of this Delta variant, the extreme infectivity of this virus.

“In a very short space of time, if we were to open, we would see cases akin to what’s happening, sadly, in Sydney right now.”

Despite the extension, Mr ­Andrews maintained the lockdown was working. “There are too many cases, too many cases the origins of which are not clear to us, too many unanswered questions, too many mysteries for us to safely come out of lockdown now. This is working, though,” he said.

“More than containing cases, to have 14 of those 20 locked away, in iso, no risk to public health — as I said earlier in the week, that trend would grow.”

Mr Andrews also announced NSW-Victorian border residents would need a permit to cross the Murray in a new scheme to come into effect from 1pm on Thursday but enforced from 6pm on Friday.

As present, residents can cross the border for six reasons, including obtaining necessary goods and services including medical care or community sport connected to an organised club or facility.

“It is not good enough to limit movement. We need to know who is moving,” Mr Andrews said.

“Before anyone says, ‘Why would you do that?’, if this virus can get from Sydney to Byron Bay, to Armidale, then only a fool would think it couldn’t get to ­Albury. It absolutely can.

“We need to go beyond a ­bubble. We need to have permits. People apply once, have their permit and then we have a clear sense of who is moving within those border towns.”

Of the five “mystery” cases, three are in two parents and child from the City of Melton, in Melbourne’s outer northwest. The remaining two unlinked cases are a health worker at the Melbourne Children’s Eye Clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and his son.