Coronavirus cases rise in Victoria as police enforce lockdown in Melbourne hot spots

Coronavirus cases in Victoria continue to soar as police patrol Melbourne’s hot spots.

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton provides an update to the media on today’s latest coronavirus cases. Picture: Ian Currie

Victoria has recorded 77 new cases of coronavirus today as police start patrolling entry into 10 of Melbourne’s COVID-19 hot spots in a desperate attempt to flatten the curve.

A total of 37 cases came from routine testing, while 27 are under investigation. Twenty patients have been hospitalised.

Five more cases have been linked to the Albanvale Primary School outbreak.

It comes after the Northern Territory reported a new confirmed case of coronavirus for the first time since April 6, with the man in his 30s who tested positive returning to Darwin from a Melbourne hot spot.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said he had quarantined in Melbourne after returning from overseas, and then spent time with family in one of the city’s hot spots.

Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, told reporters he had “no information” about the Darwin case.

Meanwhile, a security guard has blown the whistle on a serious lack of training at Melbourne’s quarantine hotels, identified as the source of the city’s second outbreak of coronavirus.

The guard, identified only as George, broke a gag order to appear on the Today show this morning, where he revealed he received only five minutes of training before being tasked to one of Melbourne’s 15 quarantine hotels.

“And that was the PPE and everything, the box and dice and then we were sent up to your level,” he said.

His training was conducted by the head of the company’s carpark management, but George said the real problem was security companies hiring subcontractors to work at a much cheaper rate than regular guards.

“Every hotel quarantine has subcontracting happening and that’s the way the companies are making money out of this,” he said.

When questioned if this was happening at Melbourne’s Stamford Plaza and Rydges hotels, George replied: “Definitely.”

He also said security guards were only given one face mask and one glove to use for an entire shift.

A government spokesperson confirmed to Today that subcontractors were used “in some instances”.

Originally published as Coronavirus cases rise in Victoria as police enforce lockdown in Melbourne hot spots