No postcode spared: new Victorian coronavirus cases top 500

All but two of the 31 local government areas across metropolitan Melbourne now have at least 30 active cases of coronavirus.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says modelling suggested Monday’s figures should represent the peak of the current wave of the pandemic. Picture: Getty Images

All but two of the 31 local government areas across metropolitan Melbourne now have at least 30 active cases of coronavirus, and two LGAs have more than 1000 active cases between them.

The spread of cases across the city comes as a record 532 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Victoria on Monday, bringing the state’s number of active cases to 4542.

Brimbank, in Melbourne’s outer west, had 526 active cases with a net increase of 11 on Monday, and Wyndham, in the outer southwest, had 519 active cases with a net increase of 43.

The only Melbourne LGAs with fewer than 30 active cases are Cardinia, in the outer southeast, with 27 active cases, and Mornington Peninsula with 13.

Meanwhile, the neonatal intensive care unit at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and a string of abattoirs and smallgoods factories feature alongside aged-care facilities at the centre of clusters, as Premier Daniel Andrews warns next steps could involve shutting down high-risk industries.

Victoria’s Health Department on Monday afternoon confirmed the infant intensive care “Butterfly Ward” at the children’s hospital had been linked to four cases of coronavirus, including one in a baby, with the others infected including two parents and a healthcare worker.

Alarmingly, the department indicated on Monday the risk of infection on the ward dates back more than a fortnight, with all babies, staff and parents who have spend more than two hours there since July 12 being tested.

Four abattoir clusters now account for more than 200 cases, including 95 cases linked to the Somerville Retail Services abattoir in Tottenham, 71 linked to the JBS abattoir in Brooklyn and eight linked to Diamond Valley Pork in Laverton North, all in Melbourne’s west, as well as 47 cases linked to the Australian Lamb Company in Colac, in Victoria’s southwest.

There are also 69 cases linked to smallgoods manufacturer Bertocchi, in Thomastown in Melbourne’s north, and six linked to Don KR in Castlemaine, in central Victoria.

The largest cluster of Victoria’s first wave of coronavirus infections was 111 cases at the Cedar Meats abattoir, also in Brooklyn.

Mr Andrews on Monday urged people not to attend work while sick, saying the state’s caseload was continuing to increase because people were going to work with COVID-19 symptoms.

“That is what is driving these numbers up, and the lockdown will not end until people stop going to work with symptoms,” he said.

 

He listed key industries that had been affected by clusters, including cool stores, meatworks, abattoirs, warehouses, freight and logistics centres, aged care and healthcare.

“Next steps may well have to include closing a number of these industries if we continue to see people attending work (while sick),” Mr Andrews said. “Business owners have a really big stake in this also. We have to work together to keep anyone who’s got symptoms away from work.”

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said modelling suggested Monday’s figures should represent the peak of the current wave of the pandemic, but the volatility of outbreaks meant this may not be the case. “I’m not going to sit back and say today is the peak,” Professor Sutton said.

Six people died from coronavirus in Victoria in the 24 hours to Monday, bringing the number of deaths since July 5 to 57, including 35 deaths linked to aged-care facilities. The death toll since the pandemic began is 77.

There are currently 683 active cases among staff, residents and close contacts across 61 aged-care facilities in Victoria.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 394 cases in nursing home residents in Victoria.

Victoria has now had 1007 cases of COVID-19 since July 1 where contact tracers have been unable to identify the source.