Victoria records 57 new cases on the 200th day of Melbourne’s lockdown

Closed signage is seen at a playground in Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne, Tuesday, 17 August. Melbourne's lockdown has been extended by two weeks and a night curfew will be reimposed in an effort to stamp out the state's latest coronavirus outbreak. Photo: AAP/James Ross

19 August 2021 10:31am

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Victoria recorded 57 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a huge spike in numbers as well as a growth in exposure sites to 550.

Authorities have shown grave concern regarding the spreading of the virus around St Kilda, and the Department of Health has urged all residents of Glen Eira and Port Phillip to get tested for COVID-19 regardless of whether they have symptoms.

There were also mystery cases focused around Middle Park and Caulfield North which were genomically linked.

Reported yesterday: 57 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
– 27,581 vaccine doses were administered
– 49,607 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/8Bqckira3x

— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) August 18, 2021

The increases came on a milestone day, marking Melbourne’s 200th day of lockdown.

COVID-19 Response Commander Jeroen Wiemar said on Wednesday, “We have accountants, we have architects, we have a sex worker, we have members of the Orthodox Jewish community, and we have a pizza guy who worked in a pizza shop in Glen Eira. It is a very broad and disparate range of people.”

He said, “We are exceptionally concerned about what we don’t know.”

These new threats make it uncertain whether the city of Melbourne would come out of lockdown as planned on 2 September.

“It’s too early to say,” Health Minister Martin Foley said, when asked if the current strategy was working. “We’re not where we want to be.”

The vaccination rollout is continuing with Wednesday’s data showing that 49.5 per cent of adults had received at least one jab of a vaccine and almost 28 per cent of adults had been fully vaccinated. It is expected that the 50 per cent milestone will be surpassed on Thursday.

In July, Australia’s national cabinet agreed to a four phase reopening plan based on a series of vaccination targets. Australia is still at phase A with lockdowns continuing. Phase B will come with more than 70 per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated, and phase C will be when 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated with targeted lockdowns and arrival caps. International borders would reopen with Phase D.