Australia's second most-populous state, Victoria, reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases since late March on Saturday, forcing the expansion of stay-at-home orders to more Melbourne suburbs and the complete lockdown of nine public housing towers.
The southeastern state recorded 108 new cases on Saturday, up from 66 on Friday and more than 70 new cases in each of the previous four days.
"These numbers are a very real concern to all of us," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.
The spike in Victoria is being closely watched as the rest of the country has reined in the virus that causes COVID-19.
Australia's most populated state, New South Wales, reported six new coronavirus cases on Saturday, five of them returning travelers from overseas.
The sixth is a past infection and not an active case, according to health officials. The state reported no new cases on Friday.
Overall, Australia has weathered the coronavirus pandemic much better than most other nations, with just over 8,300 cases and 104 deaths so far.
The nine towers in Melbourne consists of 1,345 units, housing about 3,000 residents.
They will be locked down for at least five days, effective immediately, after many residents from those towers returned a positive COVID-19 test.
Police will be placed on each floor of the towers and law enforcement authorities will also control access points.
"These are very challenging times," Premier Andrews added.
"The alternative is this gets right away from us and we have not just 12 postcodes in lockdown but every postcode locked down. I don't want to get to that."
© Thomson Reuters 2020.
9 Comments
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Justin Person
Perpetual lockdowns? How will people pay bills and feed their families? Lockdown is 100%. Nobody agrees on exact number for running odds against coronavirus death, but all agree it is minuscule - below hundredth of a percent.
Boaty_McBoatyface
Rent, food and bills. How will they be paid for?
Peter14
government assistance.
Melbourne needs to go back to stage 1 restrictions immediately to head off further spreading. They are chasing their tails at the moment and will fail to stop the spread without a return to full lock down.
This would not be happening if it had been taken seriously by all citizens. I see it all around me when I go for supplies. Some think its a joke, others a game and most do what they like without giving a crap about anyone else. We have become the laughing stock of the country.
I use a full face mask with N95 filters when I go for supplies and I get stares and even laughs from people who do not get how serious this pandemic can be. While it is no guarantee I wont get sick it is much better than no protection at all. In conjunction with anti bacterial hand gel, social distancing and good hygiene it improves my chances of staying safe a great deal.
10,000 people refused to take covid tests that are free and painless and they could be harboring the virus but are selfish and part of the problem. Things look grim in Melbourne right now and its only getting worse.
garymalmgren
10,000 people refused to take covid tests that are free and painless and they could be harboring the virus but are selfish and part of the problem.
no test = no dole.
That would see a change of mind set quick smart.
gary
Reckless
Cripes, I had for so long wanted to visit Australia but sounds like a police state!
nandakandamanda
Reckless, have a thought for the poor police who will have to stand there and put up with daily abuse by people who think they know better.
BigYen
Why would you assume these people are on the dole? What kind of assumption is that?
Reckless
So they are mainly harassing poor people? That is even worse! Only the US gets the constant critical microscope while other countries are worse.
BigYen
That's because it just happens to be the case that the lockdown suburbs are mostly in the lower socioeconomic areas of Melbourne. The poorly paid and poorly trained security guards whose injudicious interactions with people undergoing quarantine in hotels are the main cause of this resurgence of the virus mainly live in less expensive areas, obviously, and have brought the infections they've contracted back to their families and their home suburbs.
Don't get me wrong. This is mainly a government failure to make sure that adequate training and supervision were given to those people before they were hired (often subcontracted by the security firms the government engaged to do the job) but now that the infection is back out there and the surge is on, there are going to have to be some pretty draconian measures taken to defeat it.