Premier Daniel Andrews has lashed out at ‘selfish’ Victorians infected with Covid-19 who waited days to get tested as the state’s current outbreak worsens.
Victoria recorded 80 new cases on Thursday in a dramatic escalation to its outbreak, almost double the number of infections recorded a day earlier.
Only half of the latest cases were in quarantine while infectious, while 13 are mystery cases not yet linked to the outbreak.
Premier Andrews is frustrated about the high number putting off getting tested after symptoms develop and with some infectious in the community for up to eight days.
He implored Victorians to stop making selfish choices by getting tested as soon as symptoms develop and to follow the rules.
‘Don’t, for heaven sake, wait eight days and literally infect everybody you can’t anywhere near in that eight period,’ he pleaded.
Victoria’s outbreak has worsened with 80 new cases on Wednesday
Victoria has recorded 80 new cases for Covid, almost double the 45 it had on Wednesday in a dramatic escalation to its outbreak.
‘Please, do not be visiting friends and family because the visitor no-one knows about the coronavirus.
‘You are taking it with you to the people you love. You do not want them to get sick so do not act in a selfish and irresponsible way.’
He directed his tirade towards younger Victorians with 240 cases under the age 20.
‘You would have to say that the bias tends towards a younger group, and if people aren’t happy with me being honest about that, they will need to come to terms with that, because it’s a fact,’ Mr Andrews said.
‘There are, in this outbreak, some younger people who are waiting too long to get tested.’
Thursday’s 80 cases is Victoria’s highest daily increase this year.
The state has not had this many new cases in a day since last September as its deadly second wave wound down.
The Shepparton outbreak in regional Victoria has grown to 67 after 18 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
The Premier is concerned people are infectious in the community for up to eight days
Around 33,932 Victorians rolled up their sleeves for the jab while thousands more booked their appointment
Emergency relief services are being rushed to the town where 17,000 residents are currently isolating.
Of the 36 cases being treated in hospital across Victoria, 11 are in intensive care, including eight on a ventilator.
Almost 56,248 Victorians came forward for testing on Wednesday while 33,932 rolled up their sleeves for the jab.
Another 95,000 made bookings to get their jabs, despite the state government’s vaccination website crashing on Wednesday.
More than 830,000 vaccination bookings over the next four weeks be made available from 7am on Wednesday, including 450,000 first-dose Pfizer appointments.
But within minutes of bookings opening at 7am, the website appeared to buckle.
Many young people reported receiving a ‘500 internal server error’ after waiting in the queue to book their appointment, while others were told they were ineligible for the vaccine.
Mr Andrews’ teenage daughter was among those who spent all day trying to log on.
An urgent public health alert has been issued for a tower block at 140 Brunswick Street (pictured) in Fitzroy, Melbourne, after a Covid case visited the site
The state’s exposure sites list has ballooned past 800, including the emergency department of Monash Medical Centre which is now listed as a tier one exposure site.
Victoria is recruiting 350 overseas doctors and nurses to ease pressure on a hospital system facing hundreds of workers being furloughed due to coronavirus exposure, including at Royal Melbourne Hospital and Goulburn Valley Health.
The Goulburn Valley is battling an outbreak centred in Shepparton with at least 50 cases and 17,000 residents in isolation.
Hundreds of residents at two residential towers in Melbourne were also plunged into isolation after Covid-positive cases visited the two sites.
Public health alerts have been issued for a Housing Commission block at 140 Brunswick Street in the inner-northern suburb of Fitzroy and for The Standard Apartment Complex on Bay Street in beachside Brighton.
Anyone who lives in the buildings along with those who may have visited during the times specified by the Victorian health department, are now under strict quarantine orders for up to 14 days.
It comes as a busy emergency ward at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton was also flagged as an exposure site after an infected case sat in the fast track waiting room on Saturday between 3.20 and 3.35pm.
An infected Melburnians also visited The Standard Apartment Complex on Bay Street in Brighton (pictured), sending residents into quarantine
Patients and staff who were in the hospital’s triage waiting room during the same time have also been informed they must immediately get test and self isolate.
Some residents at the apartment complexes will be subject to Tier one health orders meaning they will be in isolation for 14 days.
Others who were not in close proximity to the infected cases will face Tier two orders and have to urgently get tested and stay at home until they receive a negative result.
Residents are tested for COVID-19 by health workers in the pop-up testing site outside the Palais Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne, Friday, August 20, 2021
Victoria recorded a further 45 new infections on Wednesday with 36 of the new cases are linked to known outbreaks, while the source of the remaining nine infections are still under investigation
Victoria’s Health Minister on Wednesday said the government will re-directing staff to under-manned supermarkets in virus-hit regional areas.
Martin Foley explained that workers from council, aged care services, school services, civic support groups and food supply groups would be sent out to areas like Shepparton after short-staffed supermarkets saw people unable to access food.
He admitted the state could be forced to use the Australian Defence Force to assist at-risk areas.