Victoria has recorded 12 new cases of coronavirus infections and one more death a day after the Premier urged Melburnians not to lose hope, but said he couldn't say when stage four lockdown will end.
Daniel Andrews said on Saturday that the steps to be announced next weekend will not be as far-reaching as hoped, with health authorities still battling with the "stubborn tail" of Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus infections.
Healthcare workers are seen at a drive through pop up coronavirus testing facility in Clyde in Melbourne.Credit:POOL PHOTO/JAMES ROSS/AAP
Mr Andrews said a partial easing of the lockdown would be announced as planned on Sunday, October 18, but that the case numbers meant the significant opening up of the city and its economy at that point would run too great a risk of triggering a third wave.
The latest cases keep the statewide 14-day average, which is tied to the next stage of easing lockdown, at 9.6 new cases per day.
"I think it is unlikely that we will be able to [announce] as big steps as we would have hoped to take next Sunday," Mr Andrews said during his 100th daily press conference in a row. "But there will be movement, it will be significant, but we've got to do things that are safe."
Meanwhile, Melbourne's five-kilometre radius rule is "up for evaluation" alongside all lockdown measures this week, according to Professor Sutton.
He confirmed dumping or changing the rule was definitely not off the table, even though Mr Andrews has confirmed the state will not take the full step out of lockdown as intended.
The five-kilometre rule has become a point of contention in the epidemiology community of late, with public health experts divided on the merits of the rule in slowing the spread.
"The tail of this second wave was always going to be stubborn, and that is exactly the way it is panning out," Mr Andrews said. "We can't have a situation where because we want it to be over, we pretend that it is."
Melissa Cunningham is The Age's health reporter.
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2020-10-10 22:00:00Z
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