Today is the deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic in Victoria with more than a dozen people losing their battle for life and hundreds more infected.
Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce more than 650 new positive tests as the state’s worsening crisis shows no signs ending.
His is also expected to confirm Melbourne will to go into strict Stage 4 lockdown from Wednesday after a week of speculation.
Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured, arriving at a press conference on Saturday) is expected to send Victoria into a strict stage four lockdown on Wednesday
Victoria recorded 397 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (pictured). A Stage 4 lockdown will see nearly all shops close and high school students back to learning from home
The state will likely close all but essential businesses and send high-school students back to learning from home.
If they go ahead they will be the harshest restrictions that Australia has seen and will be similar to the lockdown imposed by New Zealand.
The looming harsher lockdown prompted thousands to flock to shops across Melbourne in a new round of panic buying.
Long lines and full trolleys were seen outside supermarkets as early as 7am – even though they would stay open under stage 4.
Under the new rules nearly all cafes, restaurants and shops are likely to close for a further six weeks.
Only supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations will be allowed to stay open across Melbourne and key regional areas of Victoria.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to make the shock announcement on Sunday (a woman reading with her face mask on in Melbourne on Wednesday is pictured)
Residents will likely be restricted to their own suburbs and further limits will be imposed on the numbers allowed in supermarkets.
Cafes and restaurants are likely to continue to provide takeaway services, but people will not be allowed to dine in.
Police will also step up their checks and increase patrols to stop potential breaches.
Licence-plate recognition technology will be used to identify non-essential travellers, the Herald Sun reported.
It is expected construction sites will remain open and tradies will be given special access to hardware stores.
Public transport will also be continue in a limited capacity, with masks compulsory, and outdoor exercise will be allowed.
The decision to move to Stage 4 restrictions and its announcement rests on the Victorian Government and Premier Daniel Andrews.
The Victorian government released a breakdown of active COVID-19 cases by postcode on Friday afternoon after recording the second highest number of new daily cases since the pandemic began – another 627 cases and eight deaths
Only supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations are expected to operate in a normal capacity (people wearing masks in Melbourne pictured on July 19)
Exercise will still be allowed under the new restrictions but Melbourne residents must continue to adhere to the mandatory mask rule (people exercising in Melbourne pictured)
A Melbourne local walks past Australian Defence Force personnel as the city continues to trudge through stage three lockdown
Victoria recorded 397 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Saturday.
Mr Andrews announced the latest figures with 37 linked to outbreaks and 360 currently under investigation.
Australia’s COVID-19 death toll rose to 201 after Victoria on Saturday reported the deaths of a man and two women aged in their 80s and 90s.
The fatalities bring Victoria’s death toll to 116. There are currently 5,919 active coronavirus cases in Victoria.
Military personnel patrol the Epping Gardens Aged Care Facility in Epping, Melbourne
At least 1,008 active cases have been connected to outbreaks in aged care homes.
More than 100 cases have been referred to Victoria Police for breaching stay-at-home lockdown rules.
Experts have been working over the weekend to analyse infection data from the first half of Victoria’s six-week lockdown and determine if harsher measures are necessary.
Melbourne locals pictured wearing face masks during a walk along Morell Bridge on July 24
Victoria is expected to extend the lockdown for an additional six weeks (pictured, a clinical waste removal personnel at St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner, Melbourne)
Mr Andrews admitted further restrictions, based on state and national modelling, could prove a ‘circuit breaker’ for rising COVID-19 cases.
‘What we have at the moment are numbers that are too high of community transmission and that is a concern to us.
‘It is not a tap you can just turn on or off.’
He admitted further restrictions could have a devastating impact on the economy.
‘They are not decisions that would be taken lightly because there are significant costs … even minor changes have a significant cost,’ Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said community transmission remained a top priority and cited 49 ‘mystery’ cases.
‘Those community transmission cases are of greatest concern to us.
‘The challenge is that they are a mystery and this is all about trying to know as much as you possibly can, as much intelligence and evidence and data as you possibly can.’
Police Minister Lisa Neville said on Saturday more than 200,000 police checks had taken place across the state while more than 452,000 car checks were carried out.
She noted some Victorians were still breaking restrictions and labelled the behaviour as ‘appalling’.
Military staff monitor a Melbourne aged care facility as it grapples with an outbreak of COVID-19
‘The overwhelming majority of Victorians every day are doing the right thing,’ she said.
Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are currently about halfway through six weeks of Stage 3 restrictions, which were due to end in mid-August.
The current measures allow residents to leave their homes for essential reasons such as exercise, care, attending school or purchasing essential items.
It is also mandatory to wear a face covering in public and anyone flouting this rule risks a $200 on-the-spot fine.
On Saturday it was announced that an 83-year-old man linked to Sydney’s Crossroads Hotel COVID-19 cluster has died.
It takes New South Wales’ death toll to 52. NSW Health recorded 17 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday.
The popular Bavarian pub (pictured on Saturday) in Manly, north Sydney, was forced to close for deep cleaning after a customer tested positive to the deadly virus
Of those cases, one does not have a known source and two remain under investigation, while three of the 17 cases were returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty offered his condolences to the man’s family and said two new cases had been located with help from the COVIDSafe app.
Those cases were connected to the Mounties club in Mt Pritchard, and those who attended the club at certain times on July 20, 21 and 22 should self-isolate and seek testing.
‘While most cases in the past week have been associated with local clusters and close contacts of known cases, seven in the past week have not been able to be linked to known cases,’ Dr McAnulty said on Saturday.
Guests at the Bavarian check in their details on Saturday following the restaurant’s closure
‘These unlinked cases have been in people from southwestern Sydney, western Sydney, southeastern Sydney and Sydney local health districts.’
Meanwhile, a pub in southwest NSW and its licensee have copped fines for failing to comply with COVID-19 heath orders. A popular venue on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has been forced to shut after hosting a COVID-positive patron.
The Bavarian, a German restaurant and bar in Manly, on Saturday morning said a patron with coronavirus attended the venue on the afternoon of July 24.
The venue was to undergo deep cleaning, with NSW Health advising attendees on the afternoon of July 24 to monitor for symptoms.
The Harpoon & Hotel Harry in Surry Hills, Matinee Coffee in Marrickville and Tan Viet in Cabramatta are among other venues required to undertake deep cleaning in recent days.
The Bavarian was closed on Saturday morning to undergo deep cleaning but reopened at midday (pictured patrons use hand sanitiser outside Bavarian on Saturday)
Harris Farm Market in Leichhardt and Darlo Bar in Darlinghurst also on Friday confirmed they were frequented on July 26 by people who have since tested positive to COVID-19. Both have undergone deep cleaning and Darlo Bar will reopen on Saturday.
A pub at Temora in southern NSW has been fined $5,000 and its licensee $1,000 for non-compliance with public health orders.
Police said the pub had no sign-in book and ‘no steps had been taken’ to comply with the ministerial directions designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant on Friday said authorities had this week found the COVID-19 link between the two Thai Rock restaurants at Wetherill Park and Potts Point, which was subsequently introduced to the nearby The Apollo restaurant.
The Thai Rock Wetherill Park coronavirus cluster is nearing 100 people, while the Potts Point cluster on Saturday jumped to 24 after new cases connected to The Apollo.
Nine NSW COVID-19 patients are in intensive care, with four on ventilators.