Coronavirus: hotspot state threatens to stall nation’s coronavirus recovery

A spike in virus cases in Victoria has sparked fears a second wave of infections could slow down the national economic recovery.

How the COVID crisis worsened over the past week in Victoria.

A spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria has sparked fears that a second wave of infections could slow down the national economic ­recovery and prevent the planned lifting of travel restrictions.

Queensland is reviewing when to reopen its borders after Victoria recorded nearly 100 new COVID-19 cases in five days, while NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian sought emergency briefings about the spike on Sunday.

Victoria recorded a further 44 infections over the weekend — and only five from overseas travellers returning to the country — with the state government reimposing restrictions on family gatherings, and postponing plans to increase the number of patrons in restaurants and cafes from 20 to 50 from Monday.

The rise in Victorian cases — in sharp contrast with other states which have recorded few if any new infections in the past week — comes as the World Health ­Organisation warns the pandemic is entering a “new and dangerous phase” as people tire of lockdowns.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, the federal government’s chief advisory body, was on Sunday briefed about the outbreak and noted a number of Melbourne local government areas were now a “focus of the current outbreak concern”.

“The AHPPC strongly discourages travel to and from those areas until control of community transmission has been confirmed,” it said. Queensland went further, putting all of Melbourne on its list of “hotspots” requiring mandatory quarantine.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt said Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter protests, during which Victoria Police decided not to fine marchers for breaking social-distancing rules, had given others the green light to disregard the health ­orders. “You’re out telling people they can’t get together with family and friends, but you’re letting 30,000 people — many of them in high-risk categories — get together for a protest,” Mr Pitt told Sky News on Sunday.

 

Melbourne restaurateur Shane Delia, the owner of Maha, said it was a “pathetic double standard” that police had decided not to fine people who attended rallies almost a fortnight ago.

“People have a right to protest and express themselves, and what happened in the (BLM) cause is absolutely justified, but we’ve also got a broader responsibility to the Australian public based on the sacrifices that everybody has made,” Mr Delia said. “My grandmother passed away three weeks ago and I couldn’t even attend her funeral, and then to see tens of thousands of people putting it all at risk … it just makes me so angry.”

Jason Lui, the manager of the Melbourne Chinese restaurant Flower Drum, said he was frustrated that he could not seat 50 people from Monday as planned because the coronavirus restrictions had not been rolled back as planned. “From our perspective as operators, it’s really frustrating to be sprung with this last minute,” Mr Lui said.

Jason Lui at the Flower Drum restaurant in Melbourne. ‘It’s really frustrating to be sprung with this last minute,’ he says of tightened restrictions. Picture: Hamish Blair

Fears the outbreak could spread have now begun to worry other states and territories.

“The last thing we want to do is lift the borders, have lots of people come here for school holidays, spread coronavirus in our state, and then force us to go backwards on restrictions,” Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said. “Clearly what’s happening in Victoria will be a matter we will need to take into account.”

Queensland recorded no new cases on Sunday, while NSW recorded five despite 13,640 tests. All were recently returned travellers in hotel quarantine. There was one case recorded in Perth.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan also cited Victoria as a reason why his state’s border closure could be extended. “Obviously what’s happened in Victoria has made us consider carefully what we do. I don’t want to get into the situation Victoria is in,” he said.

The Victorian government is blaming a spike in inter-family cases for the growing uncertainty over the state’s handling of the crisis, with nearly 100 new cases in the past five days, in sharp contrast to the rest of the country which seems to have the virus under control. Victoria has tightened restrictions and is threatening targeted lockdowns amid concerns families, especially from ethnic groups, are ignoring the advice because they do not understand or are indifferent to the risks.

“This is a tipping point and we need to bear that in mind,” Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said at the weekend.

Victorian health officials also confirmed St Monica’s College in Epping would be forced to close after a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday. But the Morrison government is still urging states to reopen their borders as it moves to shore up the nation’s economic recovery and help the struggling tourism and hospitality sectors.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Australia was “one commonwealth”. “You don’t see that there is any issue in NSW as a result of localised outbreaks in Victoria,” he said. “There is no border between Victoria and NSW today and there has never been.”

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth said the rapid increases in cases was a “timely reminder” that the community was “not immune” to the virus.

“This is a timely reminder that, as all Australians, there are restrictions on how we live that we have really done well in pursuing, but those will continue while we remain not immune to COVID-19, while there is not a vaccine or an effective treatment and while cases continue to increase around the world,” Dr Coatsworth said.

“And that those restrictions have and will be critically important to the control of the virus.

“Importantly as well, for those states where restrictions are lifting, that doesn’t imply a lifting of our personal behaviour standards that we have become so used to.”