WATCH LIVE: Victoria and NSW coronavirus updates
We have dual press conferences today.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos are set to address the media in Melbourne at 11am.
And, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant is due to speak to the media in Sydney at the same time.
Depending on your settings, the two videos might both play at once. You can click 'don't play' or pause, or mute on the video you don't want to watch.
Latest updates
WATCH LIVE: Prime Minister Scott Morrison's press conference
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash are holding a press conference on the government's $2 billion 'JobTrainer' plan.
Apologies, technical issues mean the press conference has already started.
Victoria's COVID-19 reproduction rate close to one
By Paul Sakkal
Victoria's COVID-19 reproduction rate – the average number of people that an infected person spreads the virus to – is dropping to be close to one, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said.
Recently, Victoria's reproduction number rose close to 2.5.
Authorities aim to limit this number to less than one in order to prevent exponential growth in cases.
"This is a good sign," Professor Sutton said.
Victorian COVID-19 clusters grow
By Paul Sakkal
Here is a breakdown of some of today's 317 new cases which have been linked to clusters in Victoria:
- 157 linked to Al Taqwa College in Truganina, two more than yesterday;
- 37 linked to Somerville Meat Retail Services in Tottenham, four more than yesterday;
- 31 linked to Menarock aged care in Essendon, two more than yesterday (infected residents have all been moved to acute care in hospital);
- 29 linked to the JBS abattoir in Brooklyn, eight more than yesterday (the site is closed);
- 23 linked to Glendale aged care in Werribee;
- 21 linked to Estia aged care in Ardeer;
- Six linked to HWL Ebsworth law firm in the CBD;
- Five linked to St Basil's Home for the Aged in Fawkner, three more than yesterday.
Despite record day, peak may still be head of us: Sutton
"I said earlier this week, we hadn't hit our peak. We may still not have hit our peak," Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, has said.
"It's a big number. It needs to turn around," he said of today's 317 new cases.
"In some ways, I expected it to turn around this week. But as I always said, it's no guarantee. It's upon all of us to be able to turn this number around.
"The restrictions - the stage three restrictions - have been in place for over a week. With an average incubation period of five or six days, plus the time for notification to get the numbers in, we would really expect a plateauing in the next couple of days.
"But we cannot be complacent and expect that's going to happen automatically. It involves everyone limiting their interactions with others."
Sutton reminds Victorians of worst-case scenario if lockdown is lifted
By Paul Sakkal
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says Victoria could record 1000 deaths per day if restrictions were lifted and urged the public to maintain faith in the purpose of the lockdown and the social distancing rules.
Professor Sutton said he was hopeful case numbers would begin to drop later this week and called out what he said was the dangerous view that the low death toll meant the virus should be allowed to run free in the community.
"When you do not have the controls in place … you get 1000 cases a day, up to 10,000 or more cases a day, and you get up to 1000 deaths per day," he said.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
"The idea that 29 deaths is nothing and that we can lift all restrictions and let it run is absurd … It's an exponential growth when restrictions aren't in place.
"We shouldn't look at that number of 29 and think we’re being excessive in our response … If we don't do it, it'll be hundreds or thousands of deaths."
Elective surgery capacity capped at public, private Melbourne hospitals
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has expanded more on the elective surgery cap in Victoria.
All category three surgeries will be paused and capacity will be capped at both public and private hospitals.
In metropolitan Melbourne, public hospital elective surgery capacity will be capped at 50 per cent and private hospital elective surgery capacity will be limited to 75 per cent.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.Credit:Justin McManus
We will bring you more information about exactly what this means for different types of surgeries and procedures, including IVF, later today.
"We were due to go to 100 per cent of normal activity in our public hospitals by the end of this month," Ms Mikakos said.
"We think it's necessary now to create additional capacity by bringing public hospitals down to 50 per cent and private hospitals down to 75 per cent. There's been a lot of discussion with the AMA and health sector unions about this and there's support for this step at this time.
"This will mean that private hospitals can assist us with undertaking urgent surgery, so category one [and] category two surgeries, which is emergency surgery - the most serious surgery - will still be able to continue as per normal. But we are creating more capacity in the system to deal with more patients."
Ms Mikakos said 32 million masks and 90 million pairs of gloves were available to be used in health facilities.
"We are creating more capacity in the system to deal with more patients," she said."We hope this additional capacity will never be needed."
Ms Mikakos said intensive care capacity had been boosted by 1000 beds after a $1.9 billion investment earlier in the pandemic and said the health system was "well-equipped" to handle the second wave of infections and hospitalisations.
The old Peter Mac hospital has been re-commissioned and will be called St Vincent’s on the Park. It will have almost 90 critical care beds.
NSW worried strain in Crossroads outbreak more infectious
By Rachel Clun
Dr Chant said health authorities are worried the virus that has spread from the Crossroads Hotel to infect at least 40 people is more infectious than previously seen during the pandemic.
“There is a concern because we know that some of the interviewees have been able to spread the virus and infect quite a number of the household group and their other contacts,” she said.
Dr Chant also highlighted her comments from yesterday, where she pointed out people in the cluster were developing symptoms rapidly.
“People have developed the symptoms more towards the one day period than the 14[days],” she said on Wednesday.
"It gives you very little time for the contact tracers, because you've got to get your cases diagnosed and then you've got to lock down those contacts.”
Too early to be moving to stage four restrictions, Andrews says
By Paul Sakkal
Premier Daniel Andrews hopes the current lockdown will be successful in stemming the second surge of infections and has not announced tougher stage four restrictions.
Mr Andrews said there had been a lot of discussion in the community about potential stage four restrictions, but said no announcements were imminent.
"There are no announcements to be made about that today, and that shouldn't be read to mean that there will be announcements made tomorrow.
Premier Daniel Andrews, as he announced 317 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Victoria on Thursday.Credit:Chris Hopkins
"Of course we plan for every single contingency. But it's … too early for us to be moving to a whole new stage.
"This is in the hands of every single Victorian … if we all [follow the rules], then this strategy will be successful, just as it was last time and just as it has been in so many other countries who are dealing with second waves."
2128 active cases in Victoria
By Paul Sakkal
Victoria now has 2128 active coronavirus cases, the highest seen since the start of the pandemic.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it will take some time for COVID-19 case numbers to stabilise - it's one week since metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire were placed under stage three restrictions.
"We've always made the point that with these restrictions only just a week old, it will take some time to bring that stability to the numbers and then of course to then start expecting to see a pattern where they are driven down," Mr Andrews said.
"One of the other challenges, of course, is the life cycle of this virus. It means that actions you take today, the impacts of which are not really clear, or well known, or understood, or reflected in data for at least a week.
"That's why this is a six week, stay at home lockdown. That's three full life cycles of this virus.
"It's so, so important that those rules are followed and I thank every Victorian who is following the rules ... [but] we do see a small number of people making choices that not only are they wrong, but they're not particularly smart."
Family, friends the biggest infection risk
By Rachel Clun
Dr Chant said in this critical period people needed to be aware their household contacts and social networks were the groups most likely to infect you.
“We have the impression that the people we're associating with day to day in, day out, are safe and we might let down our guard,” she said.
“Don’t have the perception that you’re safe in that environment.”
She said five further cases were confirmed after yesterday’s reporting period, and the Casula outbreak now includes more than 40 cases.
“We need to sustain those high rates and testing in south-western Sydney, we’re asking the community to come forward for testing and this will ensure that we can identify the cases of COVID-19,” Dr Chant said.
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2020-07-16 01:58:00Z
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