Victoria recorded 22 new local cases of COVID-19, with fourteen of the new locally acquired cases in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period and five cases yet to be linked to current outbreaks.

Contact tracers are now trying to connect the five new mystery cases recorded on Sunday to clusters at Caroline Springs, Melton, Middle Park, Richmond and Maribyrnong.

COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimer said, “I don’t know what our position will be on Thursday, but these are not good signs. There are a number of mystery cases and those numbers continue to grow and that is really challenging. These numbers are too high.”

Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said that stay-at-home orders may continue for months to prevent an increase in cases, such as the case for NSW which recorded 415 new cases on Sunday, and hinted at an extension to the current lockdown.

“The choice really is between where we are now and hundreds and then thousands of cases,” Mr Andrews said.

“I’m determined to make sure that it doesn’t happen here. I know no one’s enjoying this. But what’s worse than this is, well, being locked up till the end of October, or indeed the end of November because that’s how long it may well take to get 80 per cent of people through the vaccination program.”

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Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien on Sunday asked for Mr Andrews to give indication as to when the lockdown would end.

“It is certainly not the short, sharp circuit breaker we were all hoping for,” he said.

“We just want the Premier to be upfront with us, tell us how much longer he thinks we are going to be locked down for and what those conditions will be.”

There are currently 530 exposure sites in Victoria, including apartment blocks on Carlton, North Melbourne and St Kilda.

The public housing tower at 480 Lygon Street, Carlton, is now a tier-2 exposure site after exposure from 12am on 8 August to 11.59pm on 15 August. Anyone who lives at the tower or visited the building must get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result whereas some residents need will be considered primary close contacts and need to isolate for 14 days.

Residents of the 5th floor of an apartment building at 23 Blackwood Street North Melbourne are also required to isolate and get tested after a confirmed case visited the block three days last week. The floor is now a tier-2 exposure site from 12am 11 August to 1pm on 13 August.

An apartment block on Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, has also been locked down for two weeks following a visit by a cleaner who tested positive to COVID in the middle of last week.

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A video emerged from Caulfield North which appeared to be an illegal engagement part among the Jewish Orthodox Community. Police are probing the party, and there are concerns that it could spark another COVID cluster. There were a number of maskless guests as the groom-to-be joked, “Clearly this is legal because this is a group therapy session. That’s why my father’s here,” he saidm while another party member added, “He’s a mental health clinician.”

The video footage emerged at a time when there is a clampdown on private gatherings, a 5km travel bubble, and the hospitality and retail sector has shut down. In Melbourne, there is a two-hour limit on exercise, and it can only be with one other person within a 5km radius from your home. Gyms have shut and community sports have been suspected. Masks must be worn everywhere, indoors and outdoors except for your home, unless you have a medical exemption.

Schools have been shut and people are required to work from home if they can.