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Hundreds of police were on Saturday night ordered to guard public housing towers to ensure 3000 residents stay in their homes, in a dramatic escalation of the COVID-19 battle.
In one of the darkest days for Victoria since the crisis began, Premier Daniel Andrews said the unprecedented “hard lockdown” of nine estates in Melbourne’s inner north and northwest was needed after dozens of infections were found across 12 units in public housing.
In an Australian first, no one will be allowed out of the fenced-off towers in Flemington and North Melbourne while residents are tested and the source of the outbreaks tracked.
The decision was made by the government’s COVID-19 Cabinet after it was told of a real threat the coronavirus would run out of control in Victoria if extreme measures weren’t taken.
And further lockdowns have not been ruled out, with the government insisting it will be guided by health experts’ advice as outbreaks occur.
Mr Andrews said “unprecedented” actions were necessary to try to keep people safe.
“There will be no reason for any of those (public housing) residents to leave their home for a period of at least five days, effective immediately,” Mr Andrews said.
“The close confines and the shared community spaces within these large apartment blocks means this virus can spread like wildfire.
“And just like fire, we need to put a perimeter around it to stop it from spreading.”
Acting federal Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly backed the move, saying a major spread of SARS almost two decades ago was through a high-rise tower in Hong Kong.
“Taking this step is a big one for Victorian authorities. It is an effort definitely worth doing in terms of controlling the spread of the virus throughout Melbourne,” he said.
The towers will effectively be treated like locked-down nursing homes to contain the spread of the virus, which yesterday saw another 108 people in Victoria infected.
It marks the second highest 24-hour total for the state since the pandemic began.
Food, medical support and other supplies will be delivered to residents, while the government is also considering rent relief for those affected.
The two postcodes that include the locked-down public housing towers — 3031 and 3051 — will join 10 others in Melbourne that have “stay at home” orders as hot spots.
The only reason people in those postcodes should leave homes is for essential supplies, exercise, education and work, or for medical care.
Mr Andrews pleaded with people to follow the rules. “This virus is dangerous. It’s indiscriminate. And it has the potential to undo everything that’s been achieved,” he said.
Meanwhile, a hotel, two retail stores and an insurance broker were among businesses shut down yesterday after new cases were uncovered.
Two Kmart stores closed for deep cleaning after two staff members tested positive — one at the Barkly Square store in Brunswick and one at a Footscray branch.
In Glen Waverley, the Bupa branch at The Glen shopping centre also closed after an infected patient visited, and the ParkRoyal Hotel at the airport was also shut down.
Two vendors from the Preston Market also tested positive to coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Saturday.
“While it is not thought that any customers have been exposed, this is a timely reminder to Victorians to maintain physical distance while in retail and shopping environments,” the Department said in a statement.
It comes as three new cases linked to staff from the emergency department at Northern Hospital, Epping were identified.
“The emergency department is still open, but operating at reduced capacity,” the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Other new cases revealed on Saturday included:
— A teacher at Debney Meadows Primary School;
— Two more people at Optus head office, taking the total to five.
Mr Andrews said the 1345 affected public housing units in the inner north would be cordoned off and police would run the operation from the state control centre.
But last night the police union said it was blindsided by the decision. State secretary of the Police Association Victoria, Wayne Gatt, said: “We have learned that our members will be deployed literally on the doorstop of this escalating health crisis.”
Mr Gatt said strict health and safety protocols needed to be put into place, because “without them our members could become vectors for transmission of this virus like security officers have been in hotels”.
“This safety planning must canvass all options, including how much and what assistance from the other capable agencies is required to support police in this task,” he said.
There are now more than 500 active confirmed cases in Victoria, about 300 more than last week. Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said “thousands more Victorians are now locked up because Andrews Government ministers stuffed up and then covered up”.
HOTEL QUARANTINE AN ‘AWFUL SITUATION’: TRAVELLER
A woman quarantined in the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn has taken to social media to describe “the awful situation”.
Megan Clement, who said she was 12 days into her mandatory fortnight quarantine period tweeted late Saturday afternoon: “Here’s what I’ve seen: Security guards without masks or gloves, Holiday Inn staff without masks or gloves, guards lacking training on how to dispose of PPE (at one point I was asked by an unmasked supervisor to put used PPE into the guard’s hands rather than the dedicated infectious waste bin).”
She added guard numbers had been cut in half from four per floor to two, staff members (not guards) had told her they were moving between different hotels for shifts and incredibly external guests were still booking into the hotel, as it remained bookable online.
A guard had come to her hotel door as late as Friday night without a mask, to hand over a delivery, Ms Clement said.
— With Sarah Mennie
SCHOOLS IN HOT SPOTS MAY RETURN TO REMOTE LEARNING
INFECTIOUS MAN ALLOWED TO LEAVE HOTEL QUARANTINE
ANDREWS’ SHOCK MOVE A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO REGAIN CONTROL
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2020-07-04 13:30:00Z
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