Coronavirus: ‘Going harder, faster’ set to pay off, says Victorian health chief Brett Sutton

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer says he is hopeful there will be no need to increase social-distancing restrictions.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Picture: Mark Stewart

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer says he is hopeful there will be no need to increase social-distancing restrictions and there is “no question” current measures will be lifted before the end of the year.

Brett Sutton, who has championed a “go harder, go faster” approach to reducing the numbers of coronavirus cases, said he was confident the curve had flattened as Victoria recorded just two new cases on Thursday.

“The numbers have obviously been down for some days now, but this entire pandemic of two million cases-plus started with one case, and so we need to be absolutely assured that not only are numbers being driven down, but they stay down, and that we’ve measures in place to make sure it doesn’t kick off,” Professor Sutton told 3AW.

Asked whether businesses would be reopening before the end of the year, he said: “Oh yeah, definitely. There’s no question there’ll be a lifting this year of various current restrictions … if we continue on this track … especially if we continue to drive the numbers down.

“If we can do that, there’s no question that we can have greater freedoms and liberties and movements through this year.”

Asked if it was too early to say stage four social-distancing restrictions were unlikely, Professor Sutton said: “I remain optimistic that we don’t have to go there.”

Victoria’s two new confirmed cases on Thursday was the state’s lowest daily increase since March 10. The follow eight on Wednesday, 10 on Tuesday, 13 on Monday, and three on Sunday.

The figures came as Health Minister Jenny Mikakos defended the Andrews government’s decision to invest in 4000 new ICU beds, saying she would rather be overprepared than underprepared for the pandemic.