Victoria, NSW re-enter strict lockdown due to 'record high' COVID-19 delta variant cases

With more than a 50 per cent record-high spike a day earlier, Australia’s second-most populous city Victoria re-entered the lockdown, and public venues were back to operations with a heavily slashed capacity. Areas of Greater Shepparton, Moorabool Shire in Victoria, Casino in NSW once again reinstated the COVID-19 lockdown for seven days, while Brisbane was asked to proceed with NRL grand final at reduced seatings, the government’s Acting Chief Health Officer announced on October 1 press briefing. The lockdown was reimposed after Victoria recorded 1,488 new cases of COVID and five deaths, the highest ever daily increase in cases for the state. COVID-19 cases in NSW, meanwhile, spiked to a new 813, while Queensland also detected two new coronavirus cases from the hypervirulent delta variant as authorities scrambled to put the positive diagnosed into strict home quarantine.

“The City of Greater Shepparton and the Shire of Moorabool will enter a seven-day lockdown commencing at 11:59 pm tonight, Friday 1 October, with restrictions the same as those in the City of Latrobe, Mitchell Shire and metropolitan Melbourne,” Chief Health Officer (CHO) Brett Sutton, Health Minister Martin Foley and COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar announced the new measures on Friday at a state presser in a press update. 

“Under lockdown restrictions, you can only leave home for limited reasons: necessary goods and services, caregiving or compassionate reasons—including medical care and getting a COVID-19 test), authorised work or permitted education, exercise and outdoor social interaction in limited groups, and getting a COVID-19 vaccine locally,” the CHO added. 

Govt blames large social gatherings for new COVID-19 cases

Victoria’s government blamed the new COVID-19 outbreak on the large social gatherings, otherwise prohibited by the state, and indoor parties over the AFL grand final weekend. These, as per the Australian press, contributed to nearly one-third of the total cases that added to the COVID-19 surge recently. The government identified several primary schools and childcare centres as “COVID-19 exposure sites” as health authorities ramped the testing and tracing of the contacts. Greater Shepparton is the latest region to go back into lockdown in Victoria on Friday as Premier Daniel Andrews cautioned about the highest ever daily deadly surge of the COVID-19 across the state. 

In a drastic measure, the Victoria government announced on October 1 that anyone who had been into the Tier 1 exposure site areas must get tested and isolated for 14 days regardless of whether positive or negative results. All non-essential movements were banned for the residents, except for trips to the pharmacy and the purchase of necessary goods and services just once a day per household. The state also prohibited outdoor social interaction, giving an exception to just once a day in a group of 4 if urgent. People were allowed to move only 15km from their homes for shopping and exercising, according to the Australian local reports. Physical workout and training were only permitted to the “fully vaccinated”.

Image: AP