The key moments as Daniel Andrews announced Victoria's worst daily coronavirus number yet - ABC News

Today, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews stepped up to announce the state's worst daily coronavirus number yet, with more than 500 new cases confirmed.

He also referred to possible "next steps" if people continue to go to work when they're sick.

However, there was also some encouraging news, with Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton saying modelling suggested "today should be the peak" in terms of case numbers.

If you missed the press conference, these are the moments you need to catch up on.

Here are the latest numbers at a glance:

• 532 new cases (taking Victoria's total to 8,696)
• Six new deaths, including five connected to outbreaks in aged care homes
• 683 active cases linked to aged care
• 245 people in hospital, including 44 in ICU
• 400 active cases involving healthcare workers

For the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic follow our live coverage.

Industries could be forced to close under 'next steps'

Mr Andrews said "every option" would be on the table if people continued to go to work when sick, saying this was the "biggest driver of transmission".

He said one possibility would be closing a number of industries.

"It's not just cool stores, meatworks, abattoirs, whatever you want to term them, it's not just big warehouses, distribution, freight, logistic centres. There's lots of different sites: aged care, healthcare, the list goes on," Mr Andrews said.

He said workplaces had a "big stake" in making sure people didn't turn up with symptoms.

"The thing is this: When you have an outbreak, that business will shut, they'll be the subject of deep-cleaning," he said.

Aged care clusters labelled a 'tragedy'

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Victorian health authorities are increasingly worried about aged care clusters

Professor Sutton called the numbers of cases related to aged care "disturbing", saying the "tragedy" was the consequence of community transmission.

Melbourne's Epping Gardens Aged Care cluster has more than tripled since yesterday, going from 24 cases to 77.

These are the latest totals for other aged care clusters:

• 84 cases linked to St Basil's Home for The Aged in Fawkner
• 82 cases linked to in Estia Healthcare in Ardeer 
• 62 cases linked to Menarock Life aged care in Essendon
• 53 cases linked to Glendale aged care in Werribee
• 57 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian homes in Kilsyth 
• 50 cases linked to Estia aged care in Heidelberg

Professor Sutton said the number of aged care staff needing to quarantine, either because they were infected themselves or were close contacts of those who are, was in the "hundreds".

He said mortality rates in aged care outbreaks were "extremely high".

"Deaths in aged care made up almost half of deaths in the UK," he said.

Just because today 'should' be the peak doesn't mean it will be

Professor Sutton told reporters that that it was encouraging to see the state's effective reproduction number "come to one, or just below one".

The effective reproduction number refers to the average number of people who catch coronavirus from every infected person.

Professor Sutton said modelling for that number suggested that "today should be the peak".

However, he said that wasn't a promise:

"I'm not going to sit back and say today is the peak. We have to see what happens in coming days. But driving that effective reproduction number down below one is the thing that will start to see numbers drop. And as numbers drop, outbreaks drop."

In fact, Professor Sutton said he was concerned that we will "probably see a rise in numbers" because of "really volatile" outbreaks in aged care.

"The numbers can increase very significantly in a very short period of time, even as community transmission might be coming down. So it's encouraging to see that effective reproduction number come to one or just below one, but we have to keep at it every day."

There has been 'some stability' in postcodes previously labelled hotspots

Professor Sutton cited North Melbourne and Flemington as examples of driving down numbers "across entire postcodes", attributing the success to the "intensive management" of cases at public housing towers.

But while he said there were a number of other postcodes where numbers were plateauing, there were other areas which had seen a rise in the last few days, including Brimbank and Greater Dandenong.

"We're looking into what might be driving that, but again, sometimes it's related to those aged care or other work settings where outbreaks occur," he said.

People are waiting weeks to receive $1,500 hardship payments

Mr Andrews said he had asked that the process for delivering $1,500 hardship payments be "streamlined", saying the current wait times weren't good enough.

His comments came after he was asked about the fact that 192 people have received the money so far, even though about 1,200 people had applied.

"I'm very keen to get that money out as fast as we possibly can because the benefits will far outweigh any minor issues that we might have," Mr Andrews said.

Andrews said attention shouldn't be on people's 'appalling' behaviour

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'Bunnings Karen' condemned online for refusing to wear mask

When Mr Andrews was asked about conspiracy theorists on social media, he responded by saying: "The more you engage in an argument with them, the more oxygen you are giving them." 

He went on to seemingly refer to the case of a woman who filmed herself berating staff at a Bunnings store, and who claimed her "human rights" meant she didn't have to wear a mask.

"Seriously, one more comment about human rights — honestly. It is about human life," Mr Andrews said.

But he also said he didn't want to draw attention to such cases.

"Frankly, their behaviour is appalling. Their views have no basis in science or fact or law. Don't focus on them. What we should be focusing on is appealing to every single worker: don't go to work if you have got symptoms."

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Dr Norman Swan responds to Victoria's latest numbers, saying a 3% positive testing rate is cause for concern

What you need to know about coronavirus:

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTI3L3RoZS1rZXktbW9tZW50cy1mcm9tLXRoZS1kYW5pZWwtYW5kcmV3cy1wcmVzcy1jb25mZXJlbmNlLzEyNDk1MjU00gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNDk1MjU0?oc=5

2020-07-27 04:33:00Z
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