Early reports suggest Victoria will record 429 new Covid-19 cases today, as the state waits to hear more details on its tough new lockdown. Photo / News Corp Australia
Early reports suggest Victoria will record 429 new Covid-19 cases today, as the state waits to hear more details on its tough new lockdown. Photo / News Corp Australia
Early reports suggest Victoria will record 429 new Covid-19 cases today, as the state waits to hear more details on its tough new lockdown.
Both the Herald Sun and the ABC are reporting the figure.
Victorians living under the harshest restrictions in the country's history after Daniel Andrews declared a "state of disaster" yesterday.
The Premier has imposed stage-four restrictions, which include a daily curfew from 8pm to 5am, with Melbourne residents only allowed to leave their home during those hours "to get care, to give care, or to go to and from work or be at work".
"We can no longer have people simply out and about for no good reason whatsoever," Andrews said yesterday.
'Thousands a day' without stage three
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says he agrees with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews that without the stage three restrictions up until now there would have been "thousands" of cases a day.
"I think that's right," Hunt told reporters this morning.
"We don't have any doubt that without the difficult restrictions, which Victoria has been going through, there would have been potentially thousands of cases a day."
Hunt said the goal was to bring daily case numbers down from the hundreds and ultimately achieve "zero community transmission".
"But we recognise that in a world that's interconnected, where planes come in, where ships bring goods that are vital, whether they are medicines or other elements, that we are linked to that outside world, so the risk is with us," he said.
'They have blood on their hands'
Rogue state Liberal MP Tim Smith has accused the Labor government of having "blood on their hands" and called for Premier Daniel Andrews to resign.
"They have so monumentally failed the people of Victoria," he told 2GB's Ben Fordham this morning.
"We are so sick of this man ... we're just so utterly sick of him. In the name of God, would he just go."
Appearing on 2GB's Melbourne stablemate 3AW, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg distanced himself from his state colleague.
"They're not words that I would use," he told Neil Mitchell.
"Daniel Andrews is obviously operating in a very difficult environment."
Frydenberg urged fellow Victorians to "put aside their anger and their disappointment, their frustration, and work together".
He said his message to Smith and everyone else would be "let's work together towards that one single objective, namely to reduce the number of cases and to get the virus under control".
Metropolitan Melbourne is now under stage-four restrictions and faces the following rules and restrictions:
• A curfew – from 8pm to 5am – starting tonight. The only reasons to leave home during these hours will be work, medical care and caregiving. • The Night Network will be suspended, and public transport services will be reduced during curfew hours. • Exercise will be limited to a maximum of one hour per day and no more than five kilometres from your home. Group size will be limited to a maximum of two – you and one other person – whether you live with them or not. • Shopping will be limited to one person per household per day. Again, the five-kilometre rule will apply. • Study at TAFE and uni must be done remotely. • Weddings will be banned – unless on compassionate reasons. • Face coverings will continue to be compulsory. All Victorian students across all year levels will return to at-home learning. • Non-essential businesses will be forced to close. •There will be some common-sense exceptions. For example if you live more than five kilometres from your closest supermarket or if you have children that can't be left at home.
Regional Victoria will move to stage three restrictions meaning you must stay at home unless leaving your house for one of four reasons – shopping for food and supplies, care and caregiving, exercise, and study and work, if you can't do it from home.
All restrictions for Victoria will remain in place for six weeks, until at least September 13.
Meanwhile, an epidemiologist has suggested Sydney may need to go into stage three lockdown in order to stay on top of the growing Covid-19 clusters.
Professor Tony Blakely aired his "unpopular" opinion while speaking with Sunrise on Monday morning.
"I'm going to be unpopular in saying this but I certainly think Sydney should be sitting a stage three lockdown because you don't want to let the virus get ahead of you," he told Sunrise.
"New South Wales is on the edge at the moment."
Blakely said NSW's contact tracing team was "doing an amazing job" but warned the virus is very difficult to control.
"This virus is so clever, it is just keeping ahead of (contact tracers)," he said.
"We are seeing these mystery cases, the cases that occur and we can't find where they got it from still popping up."
A stage three lockdown would see Sydney residents only allowed to leave their homes to shop for essentials, exercise, to go to work or school or for care or caregiving.
NSW has recorded 13 new Covcid -19 cases in 24 hours to 8pm last night.
There have been no new coronavirus cases recorded in Queensland in the past 24 hours.
