We will not be ready Victorias lockdown to be extended as state records 16 new cases

Victoria’s lockdown will be extended past Wednesday as the state continues to try to get ahead of its COVID-19 outbreak.

As the state recorded 16 new local cases on Monday, Premier Daniel Andrews said a decision on the length of the lockdown would be announced on Tuesday. “I know this is not the news people want to hear,” he said.

“We will not be ready.”

During a COVID-19 update on Monday, Mr Andrews said the state had dodged “weeks and weeks” of lockdown by moving swiftly with restrictions, as Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton urged some patrons at the recent MCG Carlton versus Geelong match to get retested.

Lifting the restrictions early, Mr Andrews said, would undo Victorians’ efforts. “It would be perhaps a few days of sunshine, and then we’d be a very high chance to be back in lockdown again,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to avoid.

“We have made great progress and we have avoided thousands of cases. Knowing what we know now, lockdown was the right course, that was the right call at the right time.”

The news came as Victoria recorded four new cases in addition to the 12 new local cases reported earlier on Monday.

The four new local cases, revealed during the press conference, will be counted in Tuesday’s numbers. All four cases have been in isolation while infectious.

Mr Sutton confirmed in a COVID update on Monday evening that there was one coronavirus case in hospital in Victoria as of Sunday.

New cases announced on Monday have emerged out of the Ms Frankie cafe in Cremorne, the rugby match at AAMI Park, Young & Jackson pub in the CBD and a screening of the Euro 2020 final at the Crafty Squire pub, and other new cases were linked to Bacchus Marsh Grammar and Trinity Grammar School.

Mr Andrews said it was a “triumph of tracing” that the four most recent people to test positive had been in isolation.

More than 54,800 test results were returned across Sunday, with 14,758 vaccine doses administered at state hubs.

Staff at regional Victorian hospital sent into isolation

More than 40 staff at Mildura Base Public Hospital have been sent into isolation after a positive case was treated at the emergency department on Saturday night.

The man, in his 30s, tested positive for coronavirus early on Sunday morning. He attended the Carlton v Geelong match at the MCG on July 10 with three household members.

A Mildura hospital spokesman said more than 40 of its 1000 staff were now self-isolating. All non-emergency surgery has been cancelled for the next three days.

One of the new cases reported on Monday morning was a household contact of the COVID-positive Mildura man.

Authorities were stepping up their COVID-19 response in the area on Monday morning.

Mr Sutton said new testing sites were deployed, including at the Mildura Recreation Reserve.

But 9 News reported one testing site was at capacity 15 minutes after it opened. Earlier, other testing sites were turning away people too, with queues at some clinics stretching 1.5 kilometres.

Mr Sutton said an online community forum would be held in Mildura on Monday night, with presentations from Mildura’s mayor, Jason Modica, the Department of Health and the local public health unit.

Exposure site list swells

Almost 16,000 Victorians are in 14-day quarantine, with positive cases stretching from Phillip Island to the Mallee.

There are now 15,800 people who are considered close contacts to the outbreak and are in isolation. More than 3000 were linked to MCG, with about half the test results from that site returned. There are 1800 close contacts from the AAMI Park stadium, with about half of those test results back.

There are 2300 close contacts at Trinity Grammar, with about 57 per cent of the test results from that community returned, while about 76 per cent of the 2700 close contact tests related to Bacchus Marsh Grammar are returned. About 540 primary close contacts have been linked to the Ms Frankie restaurant in Cremorne and authorities have processed results for 63 per cent of them.

There are now 313 exposure sites listed across Victoria, with concern around regional exposures in places including Mildura and Phillip Island.

The Crafty Squire pub in downtown Melbourne has been listed as a COVID-19 exposure site.Credit:Chris Hopkins

The Ravenswood Caltex has been listed as a tier-1 site for July 11 from 12.45pm to 2.15pm, while the Wycheproof Bakery on Broadway has been listed as an exposure site for the same day between 2pm and 3pm.

There are now more than 12 exposure sites in Mildura, with many tier-1 sites, including hospitality venues Mister Bun Mi and Blk mlk Specialty Coffee, and the Mildura Waves Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

About 30 exposure sites were added on Monday after more than 20 were added overnight, with the latest tier-1 sites including a Richmond apartment building and a media consultancy close to the Ms Frankie restaurant in Cremorne, a Docklands office, a Ringwood North supermarket and a Japanese restaurant in Fitzroy. Other sites added throughout the course of the day were in Windsor, Prahan, Port Melbourne, Hawthorn, Collingwood and Dandenong South.

A number of public transport routes have also been added as tier-2 sites, including tram route 16 at certain times on July 14 and 15 and the Frankston train line between Glen Huntly and Richmond on the same days.

The Department of Transport is urging anyone who uses public transport to register their myki card and make sure they touch on and off when they travel, noting this is crucial in helping health authorities trace potential contacts when a train, bus or tram is listed as an exposure site.

People who visited a tier-1 site must quarantine for 14 days and get tested immediately. Read the full list of exposure sites on the government’s exposure site page. Those who have visited a tier-2 site need to isolate until they test negative for the virus.

Some MCG patrons urged to retest, AAMI exposure site expanded

On Monday, Professor Sutton urged some patrons at the recent MCG Carlton v Geelong match to get retested, while more people who attended the France v Wallabies rugby union game at AAMI Park on July 13 are being told to quarantine for 14 days.

Professor Sutton said the new COVID-19 case connected to AAMI Park was seated in an area of the ground that was “not anywhere near the initial case in question”, meaning they needed to increase their catchment area for isolation.

Crowds entering the Wallabies v France match at Melbourne’s AAMI Park last week.

“We think that transmissions occurred at the pinch point on entry,” he said.

“As a reminder of what our definitions of AAMI Park were, if you were seated in sections 22, 23 or 24 in zone two on level one, or if you entered gate seven between 7.56pm and 8.13pm, then you have to get tested and isolate.”

Those seated in sections 25 to 42 of zone two and anyone who entered gate seven outside the above time period were considered tier-2 contacts.

However, authorities have now declared sections 81 to 91 a tier-2 area following the detection of the latest case. The Health Department also linked to a map outlining which sections of AAMI Park are places of concern.

Professor Sutton said health authorities had also widened some times for exposure sites for the MCG AFL game on Saturday, and patrons have been urged to check the Department of Health website.

“If you’re on level two of the MCC Members’ Reserve at any stage and have already had one test, I am requesting that you obtain a second test when possible following your first test again, reflecting that upgraded risk,” he said.

“That’s really out of an abundance of caution. If you don’t have symptoms you don’t have to isolate while awaiting your second test result but if you have any symptoms at all you have to remain isolated, until that negative result.”

Professor Sutton said it was possible transmission of the Delta variant had happened outside at both the MCG and AAMI Park sporting matches, with evidence of people being infected and then becoming infectious in a short time.

Another school snared in outbreak

Non-government school St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar was undergoing a deep clean on Monday after it reported a senior staff member had tested positive on the weekend.

The school is closed to all staff and students, including the children of essential workers, and the staff member’s close contacts have been directed to isolate for 14 days.

All other students and staff across the school’s three campuses and early learning centre have been classified tier 2 and asked to get tested and isolate until a negative result is received.

Multiple schools have been snared in Victoria’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, including Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Barwon Heads Primary, Trinity Grammar School in Kew, St Patrick’s School in Murrumbeena and De La Salle College in Malvern.

Education unions for government and non-government schools are lobbying for education staff to be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccinations, but Mr Andrews told reporters the calls were “just words” on the weekend, because the state lacks vaccine supply.

Cars lining up at a testing site at Albert Park on Monday. Some testing sites have started turning people away as they reach capacity.Credit:Getty Images

Some Melbourne testing sites no longer accepting entry

A number of testing sites across Melbourne are over capacity and are turning away people seeking to get tested.

Sites no longer accepting entry include Aughtie Walk at Albert Park, the Casey Fields clinic in Cranbourne run by Monash Health, the walk-through at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville, the IPC Health clinics in Deer Park and at Victoria University in Werribee East, the Montague Street site in South Melbourne and the Akoonah Park site in Berwick.

There is a more than four-hour wait at the Eastern Health clinic at Box Hill Hospital, according to the Health Department’s official site that monitors testing wait times.

Health authorities said additional capacity has been added at the Melbourne Showgrounds testing site and that it had shorter wait times than other locations on Monday afternoon.

With Adam Carey and Simone Fox Koob

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Ashleigh McMillan is a breaking news reporter at The Age. Got a story? Email me at a.mcmillan@theage.com.au

Cassandra Morgan is a breaking news reporter at The Age.

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