Coronavirus: Victorians face months of restrictions after virus spreads

Restrictions lasting months, even if the current lockdown is relaxed, are being discussed at the highest levels of government.

Dan Andrews has declared that the six-week lockdown could only be the beginning if Victorians continued to spread the coronavirus. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Victorians could face restrictions until Christmas as the Andrews government struggles to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, with the state reporting a national daily record of 484 infections.

The possibility of restrictions lasting many months, even if the current lockdown is eventually relaxed, have been discussed at the highest levels of government.

Senior government figures said Premier Daniel Andrews wanted daily case numbers “in the single digits” before reopening the economy — a similar position to NSW which has so far managed to contain the spread of infections.

NSW recorded 16 cases, with one in Queensland and another under investigation in South Australia pushing the country to its highest ever daily infections: 502.

But The Australian understands Mr Andrews has also told colleagues that he wants the state to reopen as soon as possible to enable more businesses, such as restaurants, to survive.

Senior government figures said the single digit vision would enable health officials to prevent a ­repeat of the new spike of infections in Victoria, where there are 3408 active cases.

“It all comes down to the data. Every option is open,” a senior government source said.

Victoria has not recorded a sustained single-digit daily increase in new cases since June 13.

Alarmingly, almost nine in 10 Victorians who tested positive to COVID-19 between July 7 and 21 had still been leaving their houses between developing symptoms and having a COVID test. After being tested, 54 per cent failed to isolate while awaiting the results.

Mr Andrews declared on Wednesday that the current six-week lockdown could only be the beginning if Victorians continued to spread the virus.

“Unless we have people who get tested staying at home and isolating until they get their results, then we will not see these numbers come down ... and a six-week shutdown will not be for six weeks. It will run for much longer than that,” he said.

 

However, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that a New Zealand-style hard lockdown might be “an awful impost on the economy and on people’s lives, with no material benefit” due to the fact that the virus was predominantly spreading through cohorts of essential workers, on whose movements even the strictest lockdown would have a limited impact.

“We have to understand where the transmission’s occurring and what measures will be most ­effective in reducing it,” Professor ­Sutton said.

Victoria recorded a record 484 new cases on Wednesday, along with the deaths of two men in their 90s, taking the state’s coronavirus death toll to 44, including 24 since July 5.

Authorities fear there will be many more deaths in coming days, with federal Health Department figures on Wednesday showing there are now 393 current COVID-19 cases across 68 Victorian aged-care services, including 197 infections in residents, 191 in staff, and five in elderly people receiving care in their homes.

 

The spread of the virus in ­Victoria continues to worry the Morrison government, which ­estimates it is costing the national economy $1bn a week.

More than two weeks into Victoria’s second lockdown, there are few signs that the measures are slowing the spread.

It is now odds-on that Victorians will be wearing masks for many months when outside their houses and any return to normality will be qualified.

This could include low numbers of spectators at sporting events for months and potentially even further restrictions on how children are schooled.

 

After releasing the Health Department statistics showing that 89 per cent of Victorians who had recently tested positive for COVID-19 did not isolate from the time they experienced symptoms, Mr Andrews said that in many cases the people involved were failing to isolate because they did not have sick leave and could not afford to stay at home.

The Andrews government has already announced a $1500 payment for people without sick leave entitlements who test positive or are close contacts, but significant delays in the Health Department processing test results and contacting those affected have meant only about 200 of several thousand who have applied for this payment have received it. “We’re doing some further work about whether we may need to enhance that payment, and I’ll have more to say about that at the appropriate time,” the Premier said.

Updated Department of Treasury and Finance data shows gross state product could fall by 5.25 per cent this calendar year. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.5 per cent in June, and is expected to peak at 9 per cent in the September quarter. The June national unemployment rate released last week was 7.4 per cent.

The figures form part of a mid-year financial update to be unveiled on Thursday. It will provide further details of the impact the worldwide pandemic is having on Victoria’s broader economic ­position.