Victoria enters sixth lockdown as seven new Covid cases recorded
Millions of Victorians have been forced into a seven-day lockdown - forcing businesses to shut and seeing protesters take to Melbourne streets - with Premier Daniel Andrews saying he had “no choice”.
• This coronavirus article is unlocked and free to read in the interest of community health and safety. Click here for full digital access to trusted news from the Herald Sun and Leader for just $1 a week for the first 12 weeks.
Victoria plunged into a seven-day lockdown at 8pm, seeing protesters take to the streets in Melbourne’s CBD.
It comes after seven new locally acquired infections emerged on Thursday morning, and health authorities expressed fears over a potential new outbreak.
Premier Daniel Andrews said while he would prefer to wait a few days before calling a lockdown, the advice from health officials was clear.
“The alternative is we let this get away from us and our hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed — not hundreds of patients but thousands,” he said.
With suspected Delta cases infectious in the community, as well as a high number of associated close contacts and exposure sites, Victoria’s acting chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie declared stay-at-home restrictions would be reintroduced.
The rules that apply in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria from 8pm on Thursday include only five reasons to leave home:
• Getting the food and supplies you need;
• Exercising for up to two hours;
• For care or caregiving;
• For authorised work or education — if you can’t do it from home;
• To get vaccinated at the nearest possible location.
Victorians also must wear face masks indoors and outdoors.
The lockdown extends throughout regional Victoria as Mr Andrews revealed virus fragments had been found in wastewater in the state’s northeast.
“We have a sewage test that has detected COVID-19 in the northeast, Wangaratta sewage test has pinged, firstly positive, then it went negative, now it’s gone positive again,” he said.
“We have some reason to believe there is COVID-19 in that community or has been in that community.”
NEW COVID CLUSTER GROWS BY SEVEN
Three of the seven new locally acquired cases announced on Thursday are primary close contacts linked to an already known case linked to the Moonee Vallee testing clinic.
The fourth case is a man from the City of Maribyrnong. His acquisition source is still not known.
The fifth case is a teacher from Al-Taqwa College in Truganina and the sixth is her household contact — a male who works at Caroline Springs and plays football for Newport FC. The Hobsons Bay couple are aged in their 20s.
The Al-Taqwa teacher got tested at an Altona North testing site.
Health Minister Martin Foley says the woman “did the right thing”.
Two relatives of the Hobsons Bay couple — from a different household — have tested positive. Those new cases will be counted in tomorrow’s numbers.
The other mystery case who tested positive on Wednesday night — a male in his 20s from Maribyrnong — works at a warehouse in Derrimut. He lives with a flatmate, who has also been tested.
Seven Victorians are in hospital, including two on ventilators in intensive care.
In the wake of the latest outbreak, teachers at Al-Taqwa College, and students at the school aged 16 years and over will now be offered the Pfizer vaccine, Education Minister James Merlino revealed on Thursday.
A pop-up vaccination clinic will be set up on the school grounds.
Mr Foley said the state government would continue to respond rapidly to fresh outbreaks.
“We know things turn very quickly. Now, 24 hours later, we have these unlinked cases. It just goes to show that this pandemic is not over,” he said.
MAP YOUR 5KM RADIUS
DAN WON’T SLAM RULE BREAKERS
Mr Andrews said he feared fining people caught breaching Covid restrictions could act as a disincentive for Victorians to get tested, or to be forthcoming with information.
“The key point here is we need to track and trace these cases. We need people to be truthful. “I don’t think they necessarily will be truthful if they are under fear of multiple $1500 fines for telling their story and allowing us to track and trace and close everything down.
“The easiest thing to say is let’s just throw the book at these people. Well, that won’t change case numbers, it will probably drive them up and we will still be locked down.”
“A small number of people who have done the wrong thing, or the virus, which one is our enemy here?”
When asked whether some people had knowingly done the wrong thing and contributed to the latest outbreak, Mr Andrews said he wouldn’t play the blame game.
“We can’t change what this person did. We can’t change the choices that this person made but we are very grateful to this person that they are working with us and telling us a full story rather than punishing them for that I think we should always encourage people to be upfront.”
CLASSROOM CHAOS IN LOCKDOWN SIX
One million Victorian school students are being plunged into their sixth lockdown, sparking fears for VCE students just weeks from starting exams.
It comes as more than 200,000 Victorian students have lost up to 25 weeks of face-to-face learning – more than in any other state – since the start of the pandemic.
Concerns are mounting for impact of the disruption on the studies of 50,000
VCE students who are due to sit their GAT on August 12.
An extension of the lockdown could see the General Aptitude Test moved yet again, causing further chaos and worry for the students who have had both years of their VCE and VCAL disrupted by multiple bouts of homeschooling.
VCE exams are also due to start on October 29.
The students who started the petition calling on VCE content to be reduced in light of the multiple lockdowns were devastated at the news.
Mia Suda, a year 12 student from Canterbury Girls’ School said she was hoping the study design would be changed in light of lockdown number six. “With another school yet again in quarantine, apprehension surrounding the GAT has arisen again,” she said.
Morgan Vella, from Kyabram P-12 College, said students “couldn’t handle any more lockdowns - it’s so hard”.
“We are at the point in year 12 where there are SACS every week and lockdown happening makes everything worse.”
- Susie O’Brien and Suzan Delibasic
SURGE IN NEW EXPOSURE SITES
Twenty-one new exposure sites were identified by the health department on Thursday, eight of which have been listed as Tier 1.
One of the three positive cases announced on Thursday is believed to be a worker at Spectacle Hub optometrist, at CS Square shopping centre in Caroline Springs.
A positive case was in the store on July 29 and 30, as well as on August 2 and August 3.
A medical centre in Altona North — Elm Rd Family Clinic — was also visited by a positive case on July 31.
Da Barber House in Caroline Springs, Wolf Cafe & Eatery in Altona North and Elite Sports Performance Gym in Spotswood have also been identified as Tier 1 exposure sites.
Anyone who visited one of these sites between the specified times must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from the time of exposure.
Cafe Newport 1881 Coffee Pastries has been identified as a Tier 2 exposure site on both July 29 and 30.
A Caltex Woolworths and Pharmacy 4 Less in Altona North, as well as Star Pizza & Pasta Cafe in Newport, have been identified as Tier 2 exposure sites on July 31.
Additionally, a NAB ATM at CS Square — near the Tier 1 optometrist — and a Woolworths in Caroline Springs have also been classified as Tier 2.
Anyone who visited one of these sites between the specified times must get tested urgently and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Mr Foley flagged that more exposure sites would be added throughout the day.
STATE ON EDGE AMID NEW COVID CASES
Health authorities are bracing for a fresh Covid-19 outbreak at Al-Taqwa College amid concerns the teacher who tested positive may have unknowingly been infectious for days while teaching.
The Truganina school – which recorded 210 cases during Victoria’s catastrophic second wave – has again been shut, with the more than 300 staff and 2095 students ordered into immediate isolation.
The female teacher underwent a Covid test on Tuesday and received a positive result on Wednesday, but health investigators believe she may have been infectious since July 28, including three days last week at school.
A football club in Melbourne’s west has also been placed on high alert after a Newport Football Club player tested positive on Wednesday.
The player is understood to be a household contact of the Al-Taqwa teacher. The club has not yet been listed as an exposure site while contact tracers work to determine his infectious period.
According to a statement from the Western Region Football League, the player participated in the West Footscray vs Newport senior men’s match at Shorten Reserve in West Footscray on Saturday, July 31, at 2.15pm.
“The player began to feel unwell this week and did not attend club training on Tuesday, and was confirmed as having Covid-19 on Wednesday,” a statement read.
“On learning of the positive case, Newport Football Club immediately advised all players and officials to get tested and isolate until further notice.
“The matter is in the hands of the DHHS, and the WRFL in conjunction with AFL Victoria will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Construction crews were on site at Al-Taqwa College on Thursday morning to build a testing site on school grounds following the recent Covid scare at the college.
Suppliers arrived at the college to deliver scaffolding and equipment for the new testing site.
The new testing location appeared to be in the early stages of completion as crews prepared to erect tents and portable bathroom facilities.
The school testing site will be the second site open for testing in Truganina, with a walk-in location available at 4Cyte Pathology.
A crew member working on the new site said it may also double as a vaccination hub.
No students were in sight after being told to get tested and isolate, and gates remained closed as government officials authorised entry for health staff.
Exposure sites from Caroline Springs, Newport and Altona North will be published progressively online this morning.
On this day, August 5, last year, Victoria recorded its worst daily numbers — 725 locally acquired cases.
That figure was the peak of the catastrophic second wave and marked the highest daily case figures in Victoria throughout the entire pandemic.
Fifteen people died on that day, including one man aged in his 30s.
OTHER SCHOOLS CLOSE AMID COVID FEARS
In more alarming developments, a second Islamic school in Melbourne’s west was forced to close due to Covid fears on Wednesday night.
Ilim College in Dallas said it would close to await advice from the health department. The college emphasised it did not have any positive Covid-19 cases but was shutting as a precaution.
The Australian International Academy in Coburg announced on Wednesday night it would also return to online learning on Thursday and Friday.
“This is a precautionary measure as our students engaged in sporting activities with other schools,” a letter to parents at the school read.
Islamic College of Melbourne in Tarneit also it will be closed on Thursday, to return to online classes on Friday.
In a statement to parents, the College said the temporary closure was “precautionary” and based on the advice from the Department of Health.
Victoria’s Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said investigators were probing the movements of the teacher, who lives in the Hobsons Bay area.
“All of us should rightly be concerned about another positive case in our community but you should be confident that we will wrap around it a swift response to get on top of it as quickly as we possibly can,” Mr Weimar said.
“What gives me confidence – as it did with Trinity Grammar last week and Bacchus Marsh Grammar, and all the other schools we dealt with in the last few weeks – the school leadership is what makes all the difference.
“The leadership we have seen from Al-Taqwa tonight and over recent months has been outstanding. I am confident we will work well with them to get on top of this outbreak.”
Mr Weimar said it was too soon to know if the case would jeopardise the easing of restrictions slated for next Wednesday or even prompt another lockdown.
“A lot of water is to go under the bridge, a lot of testing to do in the next two days,” he said.
On Wednesday, a Yarraville Coles supermarket emerged as Victoria’s first new exposure site in four days.
After the Truganina school’s first Covid case was detected on June 27, 2020, the Al-Taqwa outbreak grew to 210 cases by August 18 last year, contributing to Victoria’s second wave.
On Wednesday night the school told the Herald Sun the college “assures our families, staff and the Victorian community that we have done everything required by the Victorian government to implement Covid-19 protocols and precautions, as we have throughout this pandemic”.
In a statement to the school community, Al-Taqwa College principal Omar Hallak directed all households connected to the college to get tested immediately and isolate.
“This is a fluid situation,” he wrote. “Unless the department advises us otherwise, we are locking down for the full 14-day precautionary period.”
Truganina, in Melbourne’s west, was this week revealed as having one of the state’s lowest full Covid vaccination rates, at just 16 per cent for both jabs.
Asthma Shaheen, of Truganina, who has two primary-aged children who attend the college and also tutors several of its students, said she was concerned.
“I’m expecting a baby in a couple of weeks and I am very overwhelmed by the news,” Ms Shaheen said.
“It’s very hard for me and families to take in the news … I am going to get tested and go into isolation.
“It’s concerning because last year we started with one case and then it ended up with more than 100 cases – the situation is very unpredictable.”
Another parent of two pupils said he was “extremely concerned” about the positive case having gone through so much during the 2020 outbreak.
Dr Hanna El-Khoury, a Newport GP close to the school community, said there was great frustration. “But this is no different to anywhere else, it could happen anywhere,” he said.
“The issue is how did it happen? Hopefully it will be an isolated case and there will not be any greater consequence.”
The scare came just hours after Daniel Andrews praised Victorians for the state’s first “doughnut day” of zero Covid cases since July 11.
Despite mounting calls from business leaders and the state Opposition to fast-track the easing of restrictions, the Premier said he would continue to consider evolving data.
INTERSTATE OUTBREAKS GROW
Queensland has recorded 16 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the state’s southeast Delta cluster to 79.
The southeast’s lockdown is due to end at 4pm on Sunday, but authorities say it relies on everyone continuing to stay at home and get tested with even the slightest of symptoms.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said all were linked to the existing cluster, which he described as encouraging.
He said only three of those cases were infectious in the community for one day and another was infectious in the community for two days.
Meanwhile, five people have died from Covid on a dark day for NSW where 262 more people were diagnosed with the virus.
Of the latest deaths, three people were aged in their 60s, one in their 70s and one in their 80s. Four of the five people were not vaccinated while one person had received the first dose of AstraZeneca.
At least 45 of the new cases were infectious in the community.
WILD PHOTOS OF QUARANTINE ARREST
Two Victorian men have been arrested by police decked in gas masks, after they allegedly failed to remain in their hotel quarantine room and wear a mask at an Adelaide medi-hotel.
The pair arrived as “prohibited travellers” on Wednesday from Melbourne and were required to quarantine at the Pullman Hotel.
Dramatic images show SA Police, decked out in full PPE and gas masks, escorting the men out of the hotel and into paddy wagons.
The 19-year-old and 21-year-old have been charged with failing to comply with a direction.
They have been refused bail to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Under South Australia’s border restrictions, travellers who have been in Victoria are prohibited from entering SA.
NO CELEBRATIONS FOR OLYMPIC STARS
There will be no major homecoming ceremony for Australia’s Olympians in Melbourne, let alone a parade, due to logistic problems.
Tough pandemic restrictions on outdoor gatherings would have ruled out a traditional parade, but there was hope that a more low-key ticketed event in a venue could have been organised. However, this, too, is not possible due to the complexity of athletes quarantining at different times around Australia and border closure issues.
Many Olympians from other states would have faced the prospect of quarantining twice if they came to Melbourne.
“It physically can’t happen. We just can’t get them all in the one place,” a source told the Herald Sun.
“It did have wide support but all options have fallen through. It’s just bad timing.”
A state government spokesman said: “Discussions between Visit Victoria and the AOC have identified significant logistic challenges with moving athletes around the country due to staggered quarantine starting times, different quarantine locations and border closures.”
“While a large-scale public event is unlikely, we will continue to consider other ways to recognise the outstanding efforts of our athletes.”
An AOC spokesman said the organisation was talking to governments about potential welcome-home events that might be held when the situation with Covid-19 was better understood.
The City of Melbourne was keen to help stage a homecoming event but wasn’t involved in talks about any options put to the state government.
DRIVERS ON SLOW ROAD TO VAX SAFETY
More than half of road transport workers — including removalists at the centre of Victoria’s recent Covid-19 outbreak — are unvaccinated, an alarming new study shows.
The Transport Workers Union survey of 1200 of its members revealed just 14 per cent are fully vaccinated, while 54 per cent have no protection at all.
A further 32 per cent of truck drivers, bus drivers, couriers, taxi and ride-share drivers, food delivery riders and distribution workers have received their first vaccination shot.
The exclusive data comes amid an ongoing push to redefine the frontline and prioritise the vaccine for Australia’s most at-risk workers, including teachers, childcare workers, hairdressers and retail staff.
Following recent clusters linked to removalists and a limousine driver, the TWU said it was unacceptable transport workers were no further up the list than everyday Australians.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine also wants drivers given paid leave for their appointment.
BID TO FILL EMPTY OFFICES
Victoria has been called on to lure more global corporations to the state as Melbourne CBD’s office vacancy rate plunges to the lowest level in 20 years.
And demand for office space has hit rock bottom, even eclipsing the 1990s recession.
Repeated lockdowns have been blamed for CBD vacancies rising to 10.4 per cent over the past six months, a 2 per cent increase on the previous period, according to the latest Property Council of Australia Office Market Report.
St Kilda Rd (16.3 per cent) and Southbank (15.2 per cent) also reported vacancy increases over the past six months.
The report said that Melbourne’s office vacancy rise was mainly due to reduced demand, with the CBD the only one in the nation to show negative demand so far this year.
Property Council Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said every lockdown was a step backwards for Melbourne, and especially the CBD.
“These numbers and declining office occupancy reinforce the urgent need for a plan to revitalise our CBD and ensure Melbourne continues to be a place to live, work and invest,” she said.
“With only 26 per cent of office workers returning to the office before our most recent lockdown, and no plan to encourage people back as soon as the health advice allows them to return, the Victorian government has some serious heavy lifting to do in the interest of the survival of Melbourne businesses, large and small.”
Ms Hunter called on the Andrews government to launch an ambitious plan to attract global corporates to the city.
“Global investment plays a critical role in supporting jobs and driving economic activity”, she said.
“As an international city with strong education credentials and world-class employment talent, Melbourne is uniquely placed to attract international investment and become the headquarters for many multinational businesses.”
— Additional reporting by Melanie Burgess, Tess Ikonomou, John Masanauskas
More Coverage
Originally published as Victoria enters sixth lockdown as seven new Covid cases recorded
Join the conversation
Call for clarity over land tax changes
There’s some devil in the detail of land tax changes. But what do the State Revenue Office alterations mean for farmers?
Read more
Parks Victoria in chaos, gutted of staff and funding
Parks Victoria is in chaos, stripped of funding, as the Allan government rolls out 440,000ha national parks expansion.
Read more