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The Australian health minister, Greg Hunt, held a press conference around the same time as the Victorian press conference (because that is what usually ends up happening).
In Australia, there are now 13,950 confirmed cases and 145 deaths.
He says there is a “global acceleration” in the pandemic.
He said in Victoria it is stable, but there are significant numbers.
He says there needs to be a week of sustained lowering of numbers before success can be declared.
Brett Sutton says even though the mask requirements allow for people to not wear a mask when they’re running, he says if you can manage it you should.
He says he does know people who can run marathons wearing a mask, but the exemption is there for people who can’t manage it.
That’s the end of the presser.
Daniel Andrews says he is confident that authorities will put a stop to scams where people are calling up claiming to be contact tracers and demanding payment for tests.
“I think that anytime people behave in that sort of completely immoral, unconscionable way, that is a challenge. I am confident that between health department, Consumer Affairs Victoria and potentially Victoria police, if that is appropriate, we can deal with that.
“No member of the contact tracing team is going to be asking for your credit card or your bank details.”
Andrews says those refusing to wear masks are making selfish choices.
“They are not even in the interests of the people themselves, because it will just mean these rules and this sort of conflict, which is completely unnecessary, by the way, but these rules will be in place longer if people continue to behave that way.”
There was a well-publicised case yesterday of a coronavirus conspiracy theorist getting past a roadblock to get out of Melbourne to regional Victoria. She posted the video online, and Andrews said she could be fined if the police find her.
“Victoria police have that matter in hand … They are working hard to find that person. And that person will either have a lawful reason to be in regional Victoria or that person won’t, and if they don’t, then Victoria police, I am confident, will fine them.”
Daniel Andrews is asked whether, given the ADF infection, people can be confident the ADF won’t be spreading coronavirus as they go door to door.
Andrews says the main reason ADF officers will be knocking on your door is if you test positive for the virus and you haven’t answered a call from health officials, but says the healthcare worker infection rate shows just how infectious coronavirus is and all precautions were being taken.
“Even with the full PPE, layer upon layer, no PPE can reduce the risk to zero. But ADF are playing a really important part, and we are very grateful to them.”
Brett Sutton says health authorities are continuing to watch the situation in regional Victoria carefully, where the lockdown is not currently applied, but there isn’t the kind of community transmission that has been seen in Melbourne. Most of the transmission has been within families.
Brett Sutton says the current numbers are “pretty stubborn to shift” but we need to see the impact of universal mask usage in the next few weeks.
He says a harder lockdown wouldn’t necessarily reduce numbers because the cases where outbreaks are occurring are the places that would remain open in a stage-four scenario – aged care, food distribution and production facilities and healthcare facilities.
He says it’s unlikely we will be opening up in the next two weeks, and cases won’t go to zero because the outbreaks are really difficult to manage.
“This will have quite a tail, even if we see numbers start to drop in the next week or two.”
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton has outlined the known clusters and outbreaks:
Daniel Andrews says he is proud to see how many Victorians are wearing masks, now that it is mandatory.
He said the mask edict was essentially stage-four restrictions.
“I cannot tell you how proud I was to travel in here this morning and see literally every single person on my journey into the office from the middle-ring suburbs in the south-east, wearing a mask,” he said. “It is just a fantastic thing.”
As foreshadowed yesterday, the Commonwealth government, with the Victorian government is acting to ensure casual staff in Aged care facilities aren’t working at more than one facility, Daniel Andrews announces.
We are working very closely with the Commonwealth government, with aged care providers and with unions to consolidate shifts into single sites, do not have workers that are more often than not casual in the nature of their employment. Not moving between multiple sites but instead concentrating them on one site, that obviously doesn’t eliminate but significantly reduces the risk of the virus being transmitted by staff from one setting to another.
The federal government is going to provide support for those workers who will be disadvantaged by the new policy.
Andrews says all workers are now required to wear personal protective equipment, too.