Victoria records 49 new COVID-19 cases in worst spike in three months - as authorities extend hotel quarantine for those who refuse to get tested and consider locking down TEN virus hotspots
- Victoria recorded 49 cases of COVID-19 overnight as infections continue to soar
- The state is now implementing mandatory testing for all quarantined travellers
- Those who do not consent will be forced to stay in quarantine for ten more days
- Premier Daniel Andrews said he would not rule out fines for non-compliance
Victoria has recorded its biggest single-day spike in coronavirus cases in almost three months as it battles to contain outbreaks across Melbourne.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the state would be enforcing mandatory testing for all quarantined travellers after 49 new cases were confirmed overnight.
Under the new rules, any returning traveller who does not consent to a test will be forced to stay in hotel quarantine for a further ten days.
The government said those in quarantine would be tested twice - first on day three and then again on day 11 of the 14-day quarantine period.
Mr Andrews revealed health officials had carried out 40,000 tests over the past three days as part of a testing blitz in ten hotspot suburbs across Melbourne.
Of the 49 new cases reported on Sunday, four are from known outbreaks, 26 were detected through routine testing and the other 19 are under investigation.
Medical staff are seen conducting coronavirus testing at the new Mobile Testing Site at CB Smith Reserve Fawkner in Moreland, Victoria (pictured on Saturday)
The decision follows a sharp spike in cases in Victoria, which is the only state to have reported 12 consecutive days with cases in the double digits.
The last day Victoria recorded 49 cases overnight was on April 3, which marked the end of a horror week at the height of the pandemic with 511 confirmed cases.
Mr Andrews refused to place Melbourne's hotspot suburbs under lockdown, but said he would not rule out doing so if cases continued to rise.
'If we have to further limit movement in some of those suburbs, so for instance, a stay-at-home order – much like we all, as a community, had to endure for what felt like the longest of times – if that is deemed the appropriate public health response, then that is what we'll do,' he said.
'We'll do it if we need to.'
There were earlier expectations $1,600 fines would be introduced for quarantined travellers who refuse to get swab tested for the virus.
Mr Andrews said he wouldn't rule out introducing fines for those who refuse tests in quarantine, but that a decision would be made on Tuesday when more results come in from the testing blitz.
'Anyone who does not consent to a test will not be able to leave hotel quarantine for a further ten days,' Mr Andrews said.
'There is also the opportunity open to us to fine anyone who does not agree to a test.
Premier Daniel Andrews has announced Victoria is implementing mandatory testing for all quarantined travellers as the state carries out a testing blitz in Melbourne's suburbs amid a significant spike in COVID-19 cases
Victoria has been carrying out a testing blitz in ten suburbs across six councils in Melbourne: Hume, Casey and Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin
'But everybody who is leaving today, from right now, if they don't agree to a test, then they will be in our care for a total of 24 days – not 14 days.
'It is my judgement that if it was simply a fine and nothing else, then there may be some people in hotel quarantine, people of means... who may well pay the fine in order to get out.'
Mr Andrews said those in hotel quarantine in the state are already being tested at a rate of between 80 to 85 per cent.
He added 780,000 tests had been conducted in Victoria since January 1 and a new less-invasive saliva testing would start from Sunday.
Guests at the Stamford Hotel in Melbourne are seen wearing masks as they get into taxis on Thursday. Victoria has confirmed another 49 cases of COVID-19 overnight
Previously, swabs were taken from the nasal passage and back of the throat.
The suburbs being targeted as part of the Victorian government's widespread testing - dubbed the Suburban Testing Blitz by authorities - are Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, Maidstone, Albanvale, Sunshine West, Hallam, Brunswick West, Fawkner, Reservoir and Pakenham.
'Much like a bushfire, putting this out is challenging,' Mr Andrews said. 'Containing it, though, is something we can do, and [testing and contact tracing] is the most effective thing to do.'
On Sunday Mr Andrews refused to place Melbourne's hotspot suburbs under lockdown, but said he would not rule out doing so if cases continued to rise
Health workers are going door-to-door in Keilor Downs and Broadmeadows, with mobile testing vans and expanded community engagement teams on the ground.
Residents in the two areas were also sent emergency text messages on Saturday, urging testing.
Staff inside the Stamford Hotel in Melbourne wearing masks are seen moving luggage for guests in quarantine on June 25
Australian Defence Force medical and support personnel are understood to have arrived in Victoria to help the state's efforts.
Melbourne is still on high alert, after it was revealed on Saturday that a Metro worker based at Flinders Street Station, the city's busiest, was infected with the deadly virus.
So far 13 other Metro staff members have been forced into home quarantine amid concerns the worker may have been infectious on shift.
Military officers are seen lending a hand at a coronavirus testing centre at the Melbourne Showgrounds on Saturday (pictured)
There were fears leading into Sunday's press conference that if the rate of infection continues to surge with sustained community transmissions, police road checkpoints may be brought in at six COVID-19 trouble spots - Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin.
Although such a move would be unprecedented in Victoria, similar local area roadblocks were introduced in Tasmania when a massive outbreak occurred in the state's northwest in April.
The rest of Australia has largely contained any coronavirus outbreaks, with several states not reporting a community infection for weeks, but Victoria has seen a week of double-digit infections.
As a result, stay-at-home orders introduced by the federal government in March have largely been eased across the country, but it now appears parts of Victoria could be called to undergo another shut down.
Under the heightened restrictions, the only valid reasons for leaving home would be for work, study, essential shopping, care-giving and exercise.
One of the major concerns for Victorian health authorities is the alarming rise in the number of quarantined travellers who are refusing to get tested for COVID-19.
Department of Health and Human Services' community engagement team members are seen door-knocking residents in coronavirus hotspots (pictured in Melbourne on Wednesday)
Up to 30 per cent of forced quarantine travellers have declined nose swabs.
But simply dishing out fines is not easy as Victoria has signed up to a human rights charter which bans such penalties.
More than 19,000 travellers have undergone hotel quarantine since returning to Victoria, with at least 200 later testing positive for the deadly virus.
Members of the Australian Defence Force are seen putting on PPE as they were drafted in to help perform thousands of COVID-19 tests in Melbourne on Saturday (pictured)
Dr van Diemen said on Friday it was 'getting a little bit complicated' to discuss cases linked to outbreaks as there are 'quite a number of outbreaks at the moment'.
Three of the new cases were linked to the north Melbourne family outbreak and one is part of the Wollert outbreak, she said.
Two new cases are linked to Albanvale Primary School, one is connected to Stamford Plaza Hotel and another is associated with the Keilor Downs outbreak.
On Friday, Victoria's deputy chief health officer Annaliese van Diemen (pictured) acknowledged about 30 per cent of returned travellers have refused a COVID-19 test
'All bar one are close contacts who have been identified who were already in quarantine at the time of diagnosis,' Dr van Diemen said.
On Friday, Dr van Diemen confirmed about one third of returned travellers have refused a coronavirus test.
Estimates suggest that this could mean as many as 5,000 people could have left quarantine without a test.
Workers are seen carrying out the huge testing blitz in Melbourne on Saturday (pictured) amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections
People in face masks leave Flinders Street Station on Saturday June 21 (pictured). A Metro worker based at the station has since tested positive for coronavirus
In New South Wales, returned international travellers who refuse to have the test on day ten must stay an extra ten days in quarantine.
NSW has a two per cent test refusal rate, authorities said on Saturday.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it was important to test and trace as many people as possible to prevent the spread of the virus.
'It is very important that people do put themselves forward to have these tests because ultimately if someone gets coronavirus they are endangering the lives others across the community,' he told reporters in Melbourne on Saturday.
Victorian opposition leader Michael O'Brien said it made no sense that people could refuse the test, and if so, should pay for their stay.
'If people in quarantine refuse a test how about we just make them pay for their own stay, and I think that'll sort it out pretty quickly,' he told reporters on Saturday.
More than 758,000 total tests had been done to date on Saturday.
More than 1,700 people have recovered from the virus in Victoria while 20 have died.
Six new corornavirus cases are reported in NSW on Saturday, including a man in his 70s from Sydney's west.
All close contacts of the man, from the Penrith area, have been contacted and the case is under investigation, NSW Health said.
The remaining five new cases are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, the department said in a statement.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured on Thursday) was last week forced to roll back eased coronavirus restrictions due to the second spike in cases
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2020-06-28 03:16:07Z
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