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Victoria has recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began and another person has died.
In a dramatic day for the state, the Herald Sun revealed the border with NSW will close from 11.59pm on Tuesday night following crisis talks between the premiers of each state and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Mr Andrews said the situation in Victoria was serious and it needed to be treated seriously.
“I know people are sick and tired and fatigued of this global pandemic, the rules, the restrictions, I get that. I understand that. But this is where we’re at: there is no vaccine. It’s wildly infectious,” he said.
“If people pretend it’s over, all they’ll be doing is spreading the virus.
“I need each of you to do the right thing. Otherwise, everyone is going to be back in their home in a lockdown. That’s what’s going to happen.”
A permit system is expected to be established to help those with unavoidable travel to NSW.
“I apologise for any inconvenience that will cause people who have unavoidable travel to New South Wales,” Mr Andrews said.
“There will be further detailed arrangements announced by the Premier of New South Wales a bit later on today.
“There will be a facility for people who live on those border communities to be able to travel to and from for the purposes of work, the purposes of essential health services they might need.”
The Albury Hospital is run by Victoria, but is on the other side of the border.
“Some services can be accessed in Wodonga and others will only be accessed in Albury. There will be specific arrangements put in place to make sure people can get, in that example, the health care that they need,” Mr Andrews said.
Victorians from virus-plagued hot spots who try to enter NSW already face jail time and an $11,000 fine under tough new rules.
NSW will step up efforts to keep Victorians out.
“I’m grateful it will be enforced on the New South Wales side of the border so that it’s not a resource burden for us. We have got quite a bit to go on with at the moment and that’s where our focus and energies have been focused and will remain focused,” Mr Andrews said.
The decision to close the border was about limiting movement outside of Victoria, Mr Andrews said.
It comes as Victoria recorded 127 cases yesterday, bringing the state’s total to 2660.
A man in his 90s has diedovernight, making him the 21st person in Victoria to die from the virus.
Of the new cases, 34 are linked to outbreaks, 40 were detected in routine testing and 53 are under investigation.
- 14 new cases linked to Al-Taqwa outbreak, bringing the total to 77
- Two linked to the Patterson Lysterfield family outbreak
- One new case linked to the Camberwell outbreak, now sitting at a total of four
- One new case linked to the Truganina family outbreak
There are now 645 active cases in the state, with 31 people in hospital including five in ICU.
So far, 952,699 tests have been conducted.
There have been 16 new cases detected across the nine residential towers in lockdown, bringing the total to 53.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said there were an additional 10 cases in earlier numbers that had been linked to the towers.
“So it’s an increase of 26, essentially doubling of the numbers from yesterday and really not unexpected and is exactly the reason why these towers are in a hard lockdown,” Prof Sutton said.
Another 400 tower residents were tested on Sunday.
Prof Sutton said there were also significant virus numbers in postcodes adjacent hotspot postcodes.
“There’s significant spillover and so to use the bushfire analogy - there are literally spot fires adjacent to those restricted postcodes,” he said.
“We do need to see whether the numbers in those adjacent postcodes as well as the restricted postcodes are stabilising, but ... we’re needing to watch those adjacent postcodes especially to see how to respond.”
Mr Andrew said he expected every resident in the nine locked down towers to be tested for coronavirus.
“The sooner we have those tests taken and the results back from the laboratory, the sooner we can assess the results and make judgements about what rules, what sorts of restrictions, what treatments need to be applied to those who have the virus, who reside in those towers and those who do not,” he said.
“Staying inside your flat, inside your unit is the safest and best thing to do. It is not pleasant, I know it’s challenging, it is very challenging, but it is far preferable to seeing vast numbers of people with underlying health conditions infected with this virus, spreading it between each other and the inevitable tragic outcomes that will come from that.”
Mr Andrews said thousands of people, from police to social workers, nurses and doctors, were working to provide tower residents with appropriate care.
In the past 36 hours, Foodbank has delivered 3000 meals and 500 hampers to residents.
“In more detail, Foodbank have provided 1000 hampers containing essential food staples like cereal, long life milk sugar, pasta, canned vegetables,” Mr Andrews said.
There have been 350 personal care packs, which include soap, deodorant, tooth paste, nappies and baby formula, have also been distributed.
“Every single household this morning, just by way of example, received a bread and milk delivery at their door,” Mr Andrew said.
FareShare has also provided 3000 pre-prepared meals and 4500 pastries. Victorian Trades Hall in partnership with an organisation called Moving Feast have delivered several thousand halal meals.
Coles also donated seven pallets of essential personal care items.
Housing minister Richard Wynne said more than 900 people who reached out via the helpline have been contacted.
“I know that there’s been some commentary about, perhaps, people who have not necessarily received the level of support that they would have liked, but I just want to assure all of our residents that we are doing absolutely everything that we can to both reach out and support people in this really difficult time at the moment,” Mr Wynne said.
Prof Sutton said 127 was a big number and one nobody wanted to see.
“But we do have a very clear picture on a daily basis with the record test numbers that we’re doing. So we do have a picture of how it’s trending,” he said.
Every outbreak leads to cases that require hospitalisation, some of whom go to ICU and puts people’s lives at risk, Prof Sutton said.
“But we know where they occur and we know how to manage and control them,” he said.
“Nonetheless, the community cases have remained relatively low ... But it’s the overall numbers that we need to keep an eye on.”
TOWER RESIDENTS ‘PRISON-LIKE’ CONDITIONS
Residents locked inside cramped public housing towers have rubbished government claims they are being looked after and even compared the high-rises to prisons.
Almost 40 hours since the mandatory lockdown began, dozens of police surrounded the buildings at each of the nine towers on Monday morning, including drug and booze buses, PORT vehicles and rank and file officers.
Trapped in their homes, distressed residents of Racecourse Rd’s public housing apartments hit out at being kept in the “Flemington Penitentiary” as they completed their first day of the harsh lockdown.
There is growing angst among residents, with some comparing their time trapped at home without essential supplies as like a stint in a detention centre.
Canning St resident Mohamed Yusef, 36, is locked down in his two-bedroom flat with his wife and three young children.
“Honestly, it is really tough, I feel like a prisoner in my own home,” he told the Herald Sun.
“You wouldn’t believe that we are living in Melbourne — the most liveable city. It’s very far from it right now.
“I never thought I’d be trapped like this. I used to hear about Christmas Island, I never thought I’d be a part of detention like this.”
Mr Yusef came to Australia from war-torn Somalia in the ’90s for a better life and has loved his time in Melbourne.
A story of migration success, he runs his own security firm and is the President of the Inner Melbourne African Australian Partnership.
“It is beautiful, we have never looked back, we love Melbourne,” he said.
“But if you were in here right now, you would be concerned how to get your family through it.”
He estimates his flat is a measly 58sq m in size.
“There is no space for the kids to play around,” he said.
“We are living on top of each other, this is high density. There’s no fresh air — the windows only open 2cm. You can’t even put your hand out.
“We are compliant, but it is clear the government has no plan and was not prepared. We are going stir crazy.”
Mr Yusef said supplies were running low in his building including baby formula, nappies, feminine hygiene products and food staples such as milk.
“We’re all sharing diapers, sharing milk,” he said. “The disabled guy next door doesn’t have milk.
“As a dad, your priority is the survival of your kids. I’m shocked and scared.”
Mr Yusef said authorities had not come to offer his family coronavirus testing as of 10am Monday.
They did however drop four sausage rolls outside his front door on the floor about 2am this morning.
“No one even knocked on the door, it is shocking,” he said.
He has pleaded for the government to get the army involved while they endure at least another three days trapped in their tiny apartment.
Other residents covered their windows with posters comparing the towers to a prison, with one that read: “Treat us as humans, not caged animals. End this lockdown.”
Children pressed their faces up against windows and shouted out from the high-rise flats.
John, who has lived in 159 Melrose St, North Melbourne, for a decade, said on Sunday that residents had been left in the dark.
He said there were no police or healthcare workers patrolling the hallways and, just before 6pm he had still not received any food.
“No one has come to see us. We’ve been told nothing,” he said. “Daniel Andrews says we’re all going to get looked after — what a load of hooey.”
Some residents of 120 Racecourse Rd in Flemington were also without food for a day after the announcement on Saturday that nine public housing towers were going into immediate lockdown.
Police turned away family members and friends, including one visibly upset man, who brought food and care packages for the tenants.
“It’s not fair. They’re not animals,” he said
Flemington tower resident Steve Ulu said he came home on Saturday to a heavy police presence surrounding his tower, leading him to believe there had been a murder.
Little did he know he was being forced into an immediate lockdown with no chance to purchase food and drink to see through the five days.
Mr Ulu, 38, runs his own carpet upholstery business and said the lockdown had been “disastrous” for his livelihood.
“I’ve had to cancel all my work, I had a lot coming up this week, it is devastating,” he said.
“It is a real setback. I’ve been working toward saving for a house deposit so I can get out of here. It is a bummer.
“The $1500 payment is a good start but it is not really enough.”
LOCKDOWN: A North Melbourne resident in the Canning St tower has shared this upsetting footage. He says plastic bags of food were dumped outside doors about 2am. Interesting to note there is no police presence on his floor either. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/6sj5PKEfyd
— Brianna Travers (@briannatravers) July 6, 2020
As of 10am Monday, he said no authority has knocked on his door offering essential supplies.
“I need milk, I need bread - I don’t have either,” he said.
“I usually go grocery shopping on a Sunday. I’m lucky, I still had food in the freezer but for those who didn’t I feel so sorry for them.
“There were limited boxes distributed, but there wasn’t a lot and not enough for everyone.”
Mr Ulu said he was a “social person” who loves his work.
“Our shock is turning into anger,” he said.
“The lack of information is the most upsetting part of it all.
“It is like prison. I don’t know how I am going to cope. Just to know you can’t leave - I feel like my freedom has been taken away.
“Apparently there is meant to be a team of support workers, but I haven’t seen any of them yet.”
Mr Ulu is hunkering down watching television with his cat named Latte.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it was a “massive logistic task” to organise food and supplies.
“It does take some time but we are all working as hard as we possibly can to protect those residents, to support those residents, and to protect public health more broadly.”
Foodbank and Sikh Volunteers Australia delivered food packages for authorities to distribute.
Victoria’s Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said demands for 500 police a shift to enforce the lockdowns were sprung on officers, who had received little training.
Police are wearing protective face masks as the force attempts to safeguard themselves from any potential exposure to the deadly virus on the frontline.
Officers are blocking all entry and exit points to each of the towers.
Hundreds more are understood to be patrolling the corridors and stairwells of the buildings which health authorities yesterday labelled as “vertical cruise ships”.
The extensive process of testing 3000 residents of the nine towers for COVID-19 will continue today as authorities attempt to understand how extensive the spread of the virus is in this particular cluster.
AIRLINE STAFF EMPLOYED TO TAKE OVER QUARANTINE DUTIES
Flight attendants and pilots are being hired to work in Melbourne’s quarantine hotels, after poorly trained security guards sparked a coronavirus outbreak in the city’s north and west.
A job ad said the staff would use their “positive influencing skills” to enforce coronavirus safety measures within the problem-plagued hotels.
The move comes as an emergency field hospital equipped with ventilators is being set up at Melbourne Showgrounds amid fears of a surge in serious COVID-19 cases in the nearby locked-down public housing towers.
Twenty-seven residents in the Flemington and North Melbourne estates have tested positive but authorities warn of the virus’s “explosive potential” to spread through the vulnerable community.
Australia’s acting Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, called the towers “vertical cruise ships”.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday refused to acknowledge a secret plan — revealed by the Herald Sun — to recruit up to 1000 airline and other workers to staff quarantine hotels.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, also said he had no idea of the plan.
But a Department of Justice advertisement posted on Qantas’s internal job site states:
“You will work within a number of Melbourne CBD hotels to support the compulsory hotel quarantine arrangements for people arriving from overseas. This includes following infection prevention and control processes.
“Reporting to a team leader, you will use your positive influencing skills to ensure that physical distancing measures and good hygiene practices are being adhered to at all times.”
Sources close to the bungled quarantine program have raised concerns over the poorly trained security guards being replaced with airline staff with even less training.
The Herald Sun believes employees of the grounded carriers are already helping at several major hotels to replace private security operators, amid a major overhaul that has led to Corrections Victoria staff — including prison officers — being seconded.
A Qantas Group spokeswoman confirmed the government had offered resident support worker roles to staff who had been stood down.
The Transport Workers Union said it was concerned that frontline staff at quarantine hotels would have little to no training.
“In a time of economic and social uncertainty, the chance of employment is one aviation workers do not take for granted,” Victorian secretary John Berger said.
“However, during a global pandemic and in performing a frontline role as residential support officers — the safety of workers must be paramount.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the government should use the Defence Force.
“We don’t need an army of flight attendants, we need an army,” he said.
Victoria on Sunday recorded 74 new coronavirus cases, following 108 infections on Saturday. New cases included two linked to the Stamford Plaza, one to the Truganina family outbreak, and healthcare workers at the Northern Hospital in Epping, Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Eight new, as well as existing, cases have also been linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak, taking the cases from 33 on Saturday to 59.
Amid fears COVID-19 could cause a disaster among vulnerable public housing residents, the Department of Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital and St John Ambulance will on Monday open a 24-hour, 30-bed field hospital at the Showgrounds.
Twenty-six patients are in hospital, including three in intensive care, but Prof Sutton warned the outbreak at the towers was expected to grow.
“I do expect more to be found,” he said. “The reason why these measures are in place is because this environment, this specific setting, has genuinely explosive potential for the spread of this virus.”
Mr Andrews moved to reassure more than 3000 residents in the towers they were being “protected”, not “punished”, by the extreme lockdown measures.
As well as offering free rent for a fortnight to residents, the state government will provide $1500 hardship payments for those who cannot attend work, and $720 for households where no one is employed.
— Residents in towers who need assistance can call the Housing Call Centre on 1800 961 054.
HANSON BLASTS TOWER RESIDENTS
Pauline Hanson has taken aim at high-rise public housing tenants who are under a hard lockdown in Melbourne in a rant on live TV where she labelled some of them “drug addicts” and “alcoholics”
The One Nation leader also said many of the tenants were from non-English speaking backgrounds and accused them of not adhering to social distancing rules, and said some of them would be used to the “tough conditions” because they were from war-torn countries.
Today host Allison Langdon commented on the anguish many of the residents must be feeling with reports some had not eaten since Saturday, to which Ms Hanson responded: “We’ve seen food being delivered there. The fact is a lot of them are drug addicts... they’re getting the medication, they’re alcoholics so they’re being look after that way.”
CALLS FOR FREEZE ON LIFTING OF RESTRICTIONS
The county’s top health body is calling for an immediate pause on easing virus restrictions until Melbourne’s hot spots are under control.
Australian Medical Association President Dr Tony Bartone warned Saturday’s spike to 108 cases was the second highest daily spike in Australia and the battle was far from over.
“These new outbreaks send a strong signal that the other States should rethink the pace of easing of their COVID-19 restrictions until community transmission in Melbourne is under control,,” Dr Bartone said.
“We all want to get our lives back to normal, but it has to be a gradual and cautious process.
“All our governments are dealing with the enormous challenge of protecting the public health and generating economic activity to protect businesses and jobs – and in an ideal world allow people to return to everyday social activity.
“But as pubs and restaurants open up to more people, as the restart of elite and community sporting events picks up, and as the return to workplaces for thousands of workers accelerates nationally, the COVID-19 spikes in Melbourne are a warning for all Australians how quickly virus outbreaks can occur anywhere in the country.”
Dr Bartone clearly pointed to the AFL and said the breaches were worrying as “some players have disrespected these privileges”.
ROADS KEY TO GETTING VIC ECONOMY BACK ON TRACK
Dangerous roads and rails will be improved and school zones made safer under a $525 million joint federal and state plan to get Victoria’s economy back on track.
The half-a-billion-dollar cash injection will support construction jobs as part of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “tradie-led recovery”.
The Victorian Government has committed $205.5 million and the Federal Government has added $320.3 million.
Among the projects chosen was the Princes Highway East duplication between Traralgon and Sale, which will receive a further $121 million.
Thirty high-speed, high-risk rural intersections will be upgraded with $20 million.
Projects to make pedestrian and school zones safer will also share in just under $20 million.
Mr Morrison said the cash was part of the JobMaker plan and would “improve safety and boost jobs at a time we need it most”.
“Partnering with state and territory governments to invest in more infrastructure projects across Australia is a key part of our JobMaker plan to rebuild our economy and create more jobs,” he said.
“This funding injection means we have brought forward or provided additional funding in excess of $830 million to Victoria in the past eight months.”
Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled Victoria's coronavirus situation a "public health bushfire" as the state struggles to curb its second outbreak of the virus. More than 3,000 residents in nine public housing towers across two Victorian postcodes have been subjected to total lockdowns, effective immediately, following a triple-figure increase in COVID-19 cases overnight. Mr Andrews confirmed a record increase of 108 new cases of coronavirus, primarily at Flemington and North Melbourne. "The challenge today is we've got unacceptably high numbers in two further postcodes," Mr Andrews said. "Whilst it gives no one in the public health team or government any joy, we have to announce postcodes 3031 and 3051 will be the subject - from 11:59 pm tonight - of the Stay at Home order. "The alternative is that we don't have 12 postcodes locked-down but all postcodes locked-down." The Premier said residents within the nine public housing towers were not permitted to leave for any reason and individuals would not be allowed to enter under any circumstances. "There will be a massive logistical task to make sure people are fed, given the support they need and I don't for a moment underestimate how challenging and traumatic it will be for those 3,000 residents," he said. "It is not dissimilar to the way aged care facilities are treated if there is an outbreak. "I'm the premier of the state, I'm the leader of the government and I'm accountable and responsible to get this job done." Residents will be required to remain isolated for up to five days. Image: News Corp Australia
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he would work closely with all levels of government to “get Victorians home sooner and safer while creating jobs and supporting our economic recovery”.
Victoria has taken a massive hit from the COVID-19 shutdowns — pain further exacerbated over the past two weeks as cases again surged.
A further $178.2 million will go to the state’s Regional Rail Revival, taking the federal government’s contribution to the project to $1.8 billion.
Connecting major regional centres and boosting the hard hit economy were key aspects of the plan, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“This partnership with the Commonwealth will build projects regional communities need and help keep our construction industry strong — which is more important than ever right now as we rebuild from the pandemic,” he said.
Federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge said the cash would benefit Victorians travelling around the state.
“At the same time, investment in targeted road safety works and the Princes Highway duplication will mean safer, reliable roads for thousands of Victorians,” he said.
The package would deliver safe roads, State Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said.
“We’re building the transport infrastructure to support better connections to our regional cities and country towns and deliver safer roads and more reliable regional rail journeys,” she said.
-With additional reporting by Grant McArthur, Sharon McGowan and Ian Royall
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2020-07-06 01:39:04Z
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