Following the second biggest increase of COVID-19 cases recorded on Saturday since the start of the pandemic, Victorians woke up on Sunday to hear a slightly smaller yet still alarming surge.

The number of new patients confirmed overnight reached 74, with 16 of those attributed to controlled outbreaks, four found through routine testing, one being a returned traveller in hotel quarantine and 53 currently being investigated.

Meanwhile 26 patients are hospitalised with three in intensive care.

Speaking to the media today, Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews referred to the ‘hard lockdown’ facing 3,000 residents of 9 public housing estates since yesterday, as “the most important challenge at the moment”, and announced measures of “targeted and dedicated support.”

ALSO READ–> Strong police presence at locked-down public housing towers, as efforts to support residents ramp up

Other than the immediate provision of essential goods, healthcare and other support services expected, Mr Andrews announced a two-week rent waiver for affected households.

Residents of the building blocks who are unable to work due to the lockdown will be entitled to a $1,500 payment to compensate for the missing work, while households with unemployed tenants will receive a $750 hardship payment.

Public health workers have been deployed to test “every single individual” living in the housing towers who have not yet been tested and confirmed positive.

Outcomes of these will define the next steps to be taken concerning the residents, Mr Andrews said.

The drastic measures came into immediate effect on Saturday afternoon enforcing strict ‘stay at home’ directives for tenants of units across 9 public housing towers in Flemington and Kensington.

ALSO READ–> Melbourne public housing under immediate lockdown; residents ordered not to leave for any reason

The state’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said that four of the newest 74 cases recorded are linked to the estates, adding he expects “more to be found” in the next days.

Mr Sutton defended the measures as “an appropriate public health response” following the initial 23 cases that prompted it, citing fears of a “genuinely explosive potential” for the virus to spread in such densely-populated residential settings.

Concerns about the ‘hard lockdown’ conditions have been expressed by individuals and organisations including the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria and the Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, while reports have emerged of delays in information and essential supplies’ provision to those affected.

Premier Andrews made statements acknowledging the challenging situation residents are facing but argued the hard-lined measures were necessary.

“This is not going to be a pleasant experience for those residents but I just have a message for those residents: this is not about punishment, this is about protection,” he said.

Since Saturday midnight, two more postcodes – 3031 (Flemington, Kensington) and 3051 (North Melbourne) – have been subjected to the stay-home reimposed orders affecting almost 40 Melbourne suburbs.

While speaking of the yet harder lockdown faced by the public housing tenants, Mr Andrews did not exclude the possibility of further expanding the list of hotspots.

“I don’t want people dying in these towers…We will all feel the impact if this gets away from us comprehensively, because I won’t be looking down 12 postcodes, I will have no choice but to lockdown all postcodes,” he said.