Three new aged care facilities were hit with fresh outbreaks, after single cases were recorded at Mercy Health Bethlehem Home for the Aged in Bendigo, the Bill Crawford Lodge in Ballarat and Bupa Aged Care Edithvale.
Clusters also grew at Glendale Aged Care facility in Werribee (23 cases), St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner (nine cases) and Estia Health Aged Care in Heidelberg (13 cases).
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the rates of infection at aged care facilities was concerning.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it was 'no ordinary weekend' and said Victorians needed to stick to the rules.Credit:Luis Ascui
"They have been to date concentrated in Melbourne, but now having facilities in regional communities as well is concerning, and just highlights the fact that all Victorians need to be vigilant about this highly contagious virus," she said.
Colac in Victoria's western districts was another area outside of Melbourne to record an infection, after a worker at the Australian Lamb Colac meatworks contracted the virus.
The Standard reported that the virus had spread to two others, including a student at Trinity College Colac related to the meatworker.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there was no need at this stage for a harder border between Melbourne and the rest of regional Victoria, however he said people needed to show good judgement.
"I wouldn't want people to lose sight of the fact that we have relatively small numbers of cases in regional Victoria, there are some parts of regional Victoria where there are still no cases," he said.
"If everyone plays their part we can keep regional Victoria in a stable, very low COVID space; it is not a promise, that is a prediction if you like, if everyone follows the rules."
Mr Andrews said the decrease in the number of daily cases statewide showed that stage three restrictions were taking effect, however he warned that the data represented only one day.
Minister Jenny Mikakos says aged care outbreaks are concerning.Credit:Luis Ascui
"The heartening thing is there are more tests than yesterday and about half the cases. Again, this does move around a bit. It is widely infectious and the numbers to jump from day to day," he said.
"The ultimate thing here is every Victorian has a contribution to make and if they make it then we will get to the end of this quicker than we otherwise would."
With stage four lockdown being considered, Mr Andrews declined to say what those restrictions would look like but said he would provide more detail if and when they were required.
"We are not in a position yet and we may not get to that position where we have to announce significant additional changes," he said.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the number of cases on Saturday came as a "relief" after Friday's announcement.
"But it is a number that would have shocked us all a month ago, we need to remember it is still a high number," he said.
"It will contribute to the number of active cases and again there will be a number of people hidden in this number today who will require hospitalisation or intensive care in days to come."
There are now a total of 5353 cases in Victoria, with 11 of the new infections linked to outbreaks and 205 under investigation. There was one case in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
Staff from travel agency Helloworld will be among more than 400 new recruits to bolster DHHS contact tracing teams.
Ambulance Victoria and government body Health Direct will also supply staff, boosting the total number of contact tracers and support staff to more than 2000 from the current 1600. The new recruits will join call centre staff "supporting non-clinical contact tracing work".
Meanwhile residents at a public housing tower at 33 Alfred Street in North Melbourne were allowed to leave at 11.59pm on Saturday after the completion of two weeks hard lockdown.
However at least 100 residents will be required to continue quarantine after contracting the virus or being a close contact of a current case.
There are currently 286 cases linked to public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, with 48 connected to flats in Carlton.
- With Zach Hope
Tom Cowie is a journalist at The Age covering general news.
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2020-07-18 08:08:00Z
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