Coronavirus: Upswing in Victorian infections ‘won’t delay easing’

Despite having almost two-thirds of COVID-19 cases since the start of May, Victoria looks set to press on with plans to further ease coronavirus restrictions.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Despite recording almost two-thirds of the nation’s COVID-19 cases since the start of May and 39 in the past two days alone, Victoria looks set to press on with plans to further ease coronavirus restrictions from Monday.

Of a national total of 21 new cases on Thursday, Victoria recorded 18, NSW two and Queensland one.

Six of the new Victorian cases were returning travellers, who are quarantined. Eight were community transmissions, the category of most concern to health officials.

The cases included a childcare worker, a child from another childcare facility, and a person who attended the Black Lives Matter­ rally in Melbourne’s CBD on June 6, the third positive case from the protest.

Victorian Premier Daniel And­rews said the numbers were concern­ing but current advice from the state’s health officials ­remained that restrictions due to be eased on June 22 could “slowly, cautiously, safely” proceed.

These include pubs and clubs serving drinks without a meal for up to 50 people if they are seated and social-distancing measures are adhered to.

Cafes and restaurants will also be able to increase their capacity to 50, and cinemas, theatres and concer­t venues can reopen to cater for 50 seated patrons.

“Today's numbers and yesterday’s numbers are a timely reminde­r, if anyone needed that, that this is far from over,” Mr ­Andrews said.

 

He said health officials would monitor the situation each day in the lead-up to the June 22 easing. “It’s all based on what the virus is doing in the Victorian community, how much community transmission there is, how confident we are that a second wave can be avoided,” he said.

“At this stage, we remain confid­ent of that. But we're going to keep working hard to make sure everything we do minimises the chances of a second wave."

Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen didn’t rule out a change of approach if numbers worsened, saying “a lot can happen in five days”.

We really saw (that) in March when case numbers started to climb significantly, and we would hope we are not on that trajectory but we don’t want to take any chances,” Dr van Diemen said.

“If it does continue to climb, we will be taking all of that into ­account when we decide whether or not to ease further on Monday."

Dr van Diemen said the BLM protester, a man in his 20s, was not infectious at the rally, but it was “impossible to tell” whether he had contracted COVID-19 while he was there: “It is possible they acquire­d their illness at the protest, but they were wearing a mask and did attend a number of locations during the acquisition period.”

Dr Van Diemen said she was hoping there would be no further cases linked to the protest. “Given the timeframe since the protest, it’s now been almost two weeks, we’re getting to the end of the incub­ation period,” she said.

The protester worked some shifts at an H&M store in the Northland Shopping Centre, which has been closed for cleaning and contact tracing.

The two childcare centres had also been closed while deep cleaning and contact tracing were ­undertaken.

Victoria’s position stands in contrast to the Northern Territ­ory, which was declared “coronavirus free” on Thursday.