Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that the lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne will be extended until at least 11:59 pm, Thursday 19 August, as health authorities are still trying to get on top of the current outbreak.
Victoria recorded 20 new locally acquired cases. The source of five of the infections is not yet known, 15 of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks, and 14 were in quarantine during their infectious periods.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there are more than 100 active cases in our community and more than 12,000 primary close contacts.
“We cannot afford to open up and let this variant run free – we need to get in front of this, just like we have done before.”
The areas of concern are Melton and Caroline springs suburbs where new cases have been identified with mystery sources.
However, health authorities are confident that today’s 5 mystery cases will be linked in the coming days. This includes 3 members of the same family from Melton, 2 cases in the city of Melbourne, A father and son. Son is a grade 1 student at St Michaels Primary School and his father is Doctor at Royal Children’s Hospital.
Anyone who has the slightest of the symptoms is urged to get tested. However, testing sites are seen to be struggling with long queues and waiting times of few hours in western suburbs.
Premier Daniel Andrews said
For the next seven days, Melbourne metro residents can still only leave home for five reasons: 1- To get the food and the supplies you need,
2- For exercise for up to two hours
3- For care or caregiving,
4- Permitted work or education if you can’t do it from home and
5- To get vaccinated at the nearest possible location.
Shopping and exercise must be done within 5km of your home or the nearest location. Face masks will remain mandatory indoors (not at home) unless an exception applies – this includes all workplaces and secondary schools.
Despite claiming to have controlled the spillover of the NSW outbreak last week, Victorian Premier’s press release starts with, “Due to the current level of community transmission of coronavirus in Victoria from the recent New South Wales (NSW) incursions, the current lockdown across Melbourne will be extended for another seven days.”
Residents of the cross-border community local government areas will now be required to obtain a permit to cross between Victoria and NSW from 6 pm, Friday 13 August.
This permit will improve health authorities ability to track who is entering Victoria from NSW and make it easier to rapidly get information to contact tracers and to monitor for compliance.
The reasons Cross Border Community Area residents can cross the Victorian -NSW border still include:
- Necessary goods and services, including medical care
- Care or other compassionate reasons
- Work (whether paid or voluntary, including for charitable or religious purposes)
- Education (including childcare or early childhood services)
- Receiving a COVID-19 vaccination
- Organised/community sport and exercise connected to or organised by a club or facility.
Residents will be able to apply for a permit from Thursday afternoon at the Service Victoria website, service.vic.gov.au and via the Service Victoria app.
