Melbourne’s lockdown will be extended by a week as Victoria records another 20 locally acquired coronavirus infections, including another five mystery cases.
Fifteen of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks and 14 were in quarantine during their infectious periods.
But with the origins of the initial outbreak from last week still a mystery and the five new mystery cases on Wednesday, there was no option but to extend the sixth lockdown, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“Sadly, today the cabinet of the government have met and we have determined to accept the advice of the chief health officer to extend for a further period of seven days, until 11.59pm next Thursday,” Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters.
“This is very challenging, I know, for every single Victorian who would like to be going about their business, they would like to be open and have a degree of freedom that is simply not possible because of this Delta variant.”
While regional Victoria remains lockdown-free, rules for the cross-border communities are changing again due to the expanding situation in NSW.
Residents of the cross-border community local government areas will have to get a permit to cross between Victoria and NSW from 6pm on Friday.
The state government says it is to better track who is entering Victoria from NSW and make it easier to rapidly get information to contact tracers and to monitor for compliance.
Spread of the virus in Caroline Springs remains the main concern for authorities, closely followed by the City of Melton. A healthcare worker who worked at the eye clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital on Monday is among those infected in this outbreak.
There are now 100 cases linked to the new outbreak and 13,800 close contacts are isolating, with nearly 300 exposure sites listed.
Despite the longer lockdown, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is confident authorities are getting ahead of the virus, noting the 14 of the 15 linked cases in Wednesday’s numbers being in isolation while infectious.
Coronavirus testing in Melbourne’s west, where the majority of cases are appearing, is at capacity, despite extra lanes and opening hours.
“It is a good problem to have because people are coming forward and I’m very grateful to them, but it is not like picking up fast food – it takes time and it has to take time because it needs to be safe,” Mr Andrews said.
“The last thing I want is people having symptoms coming forward to get tested as part of the public health response actually contributing to the spread of this virus.”
Victorians have also flooded vaccination bookings after the state opened up AstraZeneca to all adults.
Mr Andrews has flagged expanding the vaccination program to meet the demand but no announcements on Wednesday.
For exposure sites, visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
AAP
