Coronavirus: Puzzle in the Melbourne postcodes hit with lockdown

Melbourne areas with postcodes which were locked down almost three weeks ago continue to have some of the highest net increases in active coronavirus cases.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Melbourne local government areas with postcodes which were locked down almost three weeks ago continue to have some of the highest net increases in active coronavirus cases in Victoria, despite optimism from health authorities about a stabilisation in the state’s caseload.

Analysis of Tuesday’s local government area data shows that while the active caseload is falling in the City of Melbourne and Moonee Valley, which are home to significant public housing tower clusters, it continues to rise in the other four local government areas with postcodes which went into early lockdown on July 2.

There have also been significant increases in outer suburban and regional areas as the virus continues to spread among essential workers who are required to still be out and about, despite the July 9 Melbourne and Mitchell Shire lockdown.

With as much as 80 per cent of Victoria’s caseload understood to be in essential workers and their close contacts, the Andrews government is now pinning its hopes on the success of its mandatory masks policy, which comes into effect at midnight on Wednesday.

The news comes as Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services, which is battling with a contact tracing backlog of more than 1000 cases, said it was “unable to provide that level of breakdown” when asked by The Australian to provide suburb or postcode-based case data for the three Melbourne LGAs with the highest caseload.

A single local government area can contain more than 300,000 residents and cover hundreds of square kilometres, but the department has refused to provide a more localised breakdown of case numbers.

In the City of Melbourne, which is home to some of the North Melbourne and Flemington housing towers linked to a cluster of 289 cases and an outbreak of 55 cases in public housing in Carlton, there was a net decrease of two cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday.

In Moonee Valley, which contains some of the Flemington towers, there was a net decrease of eight. However, Moreland in Melbourne‘s inner north had a net increase of 31 cases, Hume, in the outer north 22, Brimbank in the outer west 18, and Maribyrnong in the inner west five.

Big increases were also seen in outer suburban areas such as Wyndham, in the outer west, which has the highest number of active cases in the state at 270, including a net increase of 20 on Tuesday.

Casey, in the outer southeast, had a net increase of 25 on Tuesday, while Whittlesea in the outer north and Melton in the outer northwest also had double digit net increases.

Also concerning is the sharp rise in cases in regional Victoria where there are 103 cases, up from 14 when the lockdown was imposed less than a fortnight ago.

Amid 3147 active cases in the state, including 374 new cases on Tuesday, Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said there had been “some stabilisation” of caseloads in the areas locked down for the longest, despite the data in Hume, Brimbank, Moreland and Maribyrnong suggesting otherwise.