This was published 4 years ago
Thanks so much for joining us today for this very hastily-convened COVID-19 blog.
I’ll put a summary of today’s major developments below but please join us again tomorrow as we will be back with another live and free COVID-19 blog from early tomorrow morning.
We will be keeping this blog free and available to everyone as this is a public health emergency.
The major stories from today:
Victorian Government considers lockdown as cases rise
Victoria’s list of COVID-19 exposure sites has expanded to 70, with contact tracers adding several more venues to the list this evening.
If you have been to a tier 1 venue you will need to get a COVID-19 test and isolate for 14 days while tier 2 venues require you to get a COVID-19 test and isolate until you receive a negative test.
The new locations, as of 8.45pm tonight are:
Tier 1
Port Melbourne
The Local, 22-24 Bay St, Port Melbourne
May 21 from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
Case dined inside the venue.
The coronavirus variant first spotted in India that has so far infected 15 people across Melbourne is probably as contagious as, or slightly less contagious than, the fast-spreading British version of the virus.
The variant now spreading in Victoria was first identified in India in October as the country experienced a surge in infections.
It remains unclear how effectively antibodies from the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines neutralise the variant, known as B.1.617.1, as the studies are yet to be done.
However, in a hopeful sign, both vaccines are effective against a closely related variant.
Returning to Epping in the city’s north, Stephanie Carlin spoke to reporter Tammy Mills and photographer Joe Armao at the Northern Hospital while she waited to get vaccinated.
As we reported earlier today, Ms Carlin is a 35-year-old aged care worker who has been off work for some time so is just getting vaccinated.
She is from Wollert, the suburb where the outbreak originated from.
Ms Carlin had mixed emotions - she said the city should be well-equipped to handle the outbreak, but she still felt uneasy.
Thousands of Victorians have rushed to get their coronavirus vaccines as a growing cluster of cases threatens to plunge Melburnians into lockdown again.
Concern that the outbreak in Melbourne’s north, which has spread to 15 people, has already outrun health authorities has also prompted a top infectious diseases expert to call on Australia’s immunisation advisory group to consider shortening the gap between AstraZeneca doses, to ensure people are fully protected from COVID-19 variants quicker.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommends three months between doses to maximise protection from the virus, but the University of Sydney’s Professor Robert Booy said this should be reduced to two months.
NSW Health is urgently contacting people from a Tooleybuc sporting club, in the western Riverina region, who attended a sporting event in regional Victoria where a COVID-19 case was reported (see Michael Fowler’s blog post from 3.30pm today).
Anyone who attended Cohuna Football Netball Club on May 22 from 12 to 5pm must immediately self-isolate and await further advice from NSW Health.
The Central Murray Football Netball League match between Tooleybuc-Manangatang and Cohuna Kangas was attended by a confirmed case of COVID-19.
NSW Health says it is working to set up increased capacity for testing in the western Riverina area.
UPDATED: Some Melbourne principals are expecting a short return to remote learning.
While there’s no official confirmation yet, one principal said he was preparing for remote learning on Friday and Monday, as part of a snap lockdown to bring COVID infections under control.
“Nothing official from the DET ... but we are getting ready for a 3 to 4 day one,” he said.
In previous lockdowns, principals were not informed of a switch to remote learning until it had been announced in a press conference, and department emails instructing schools were often sent late at night.
COVID restrictions at schools were increased this week following the spate of infections, with staff and secondary school students aged 12 or older required to wear a mask inside, visitors attending schools for more than 15 minutes required to scan in, and parents asked to social distance at drop-off and pick-up.
A growing list of exposure sites across Victoria and fears of mystery COVID-19 cases sparked an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday night to decide whether to send Melbourne into a hard lockdown.
As the number of cases in the new cluster reached 15 and exposure sites passed 60, a senior minister confirmed to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that a single mystery case would probably trigger a snap, “circuit-breaker” lockdown, giving contact tracers more time to get on top of the state’s latest outbreak.
“We know what to do and how to get on top of it,” the minister said.
Acting Premier James Merlino said on Wednesday morning that tougher measures could be introduced, beyond new rules introduced on Tuesday on household gatherings and mask-wearing. “I cannot rule out taking some further action,” he said. “The next 24 hours are going to be critical.”
Greater Melbourne and parts of Victoria face new travel conditions in several states due to the current cluster of cases in the City of Whittlesea.
Here is a rundown of the current travel instructions from several states, these could change or more states could impose new restrictions in the days to come if cases continue to rise.
New South Wales: NSW residents are being urged to postpone non-urgent travel to Melbourne, with NSW Health issuing a public health alert for Greater Melbourne and Bendigo.
Queensland: Queensland has closed its borders to residents of the City of Whittlesea.
The Victorian Department of Health says its vaccine hotline faced ‘unprecedented demand’ today as new cases emerged in the state.
A DHS spokesperson responded to concerns from callers who faced long wait times to arrange for an appointment to get the vaccine.
“Victoria’s vaccine booking hotline is managing unprecedented demand,” the DHS spokesperson said.
“Average hold times across the morning were between five and six minutes, but this has increased significantly during periods of peak demand.
“We are grateful for everyone’s patience and enthusiastic response to the call for those eligible for COVID-19 vaccination to come forward.”