Under siege Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reveals devastating toll his lockdown measures have taken on his family
- Premier Daniel Andrews has not seen his mother Jan, 75, since last Christmas
- On a normal Father's Day, Mr Andrews visits mum, and late father's resting place
- Instead he had to announce that coronavirus lockdowns would be extended
- Premier urged Victorians to 'stay the course' so they can have a normal summer
Daniel Andrews has revealed the heartbreaking toll his coronavirus lockdowns have taken on his family.
The Victorian premier said he hasn't seen his 75-year-old mother, Jan Andrews, since Christmas as he unveiled the hard road to his state's freedom on Sunday.
'None of us have had visitors for a very long time and it is tough, it is really, really tough,' he told his daily press briefing.
'It was my mum's birthday just recently.'
Jan Andrews (left) pictured at Daniel Andrew's election victory in 2018. Mr Andrews has not been able to see his mother, now aged 75, since Christmas due to the coronavirus restrictions
Dan and Jan Andrews: Daniel Andrews pictured with his mother, Jan, at her Wangaratta farm before the restrictions
'I probably shouldn't do this, but I thought to myself: how long is it since I've seen her?
'I haven't seen her since Christmas.'
The Victorian premier said between the bushfires and the pandemic, he hadn't been able to get up to his mother's Wangaratta farm.
He also missed seeing her on Mother's Day, May 10, which fell a day before Victoria's previous State of Emergency ended at midnight on May 11.
'I want to get there this Christmas coming, though,' he said.
'I want all of us to stay the course so that we can all have something approaching a normal Christmas.'
Bourke Street, Melbourne, was empty on Sunday, with a lone delivery driver and police in sight as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the coronavirus lockdown had to be extended
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at the press conference on Sunday. Mr Andrews said there was no choice - there was too much virus spreading in the community to lift the lockdowns
It was a poignant moment during the Premier's daily press briefing on Sunday as it was also Father's Day - and Mr Andrew's lost his father Bob, a cattle farmer, in 2016.
In a separate Father's Day statement, the Premier revealed that his normal Father's Day plan was to have lunch with his wife and children, then take a trip to Wangaratta to visit his mum and pay his respects to his father's resting place.
The Premier made his lonely admission as he revealed Victoria's road map to coronavirus freedom would be difficult.
An extra two weeks of Stage Four lockdown have been added for Melbourne stretching until September 28.
Coronavirus warning messages at Melbourne's Central Shopping Centre on Sunday. Premier Daniel Andrews announced a four-step path to freedom on Sunday
Mr Andrews explained it was just not possible to lift the lockdowns on schedule as there was too much community transmission.
To lift them now would only ruin the recovery and then the lockdowns would have to be reimposed all over again, he said.
'(We) Haven't yet hit these targets, these very low numbers,' he said.
'Our daily case average these last 14 days is 100-odd. If you open up at that level, you're not open for long.'
Pictured: State Library lawn, Melbourne on Sunday
Mr Andrews said even at a two-week average of 25 cases per day, there was still a 60 per cent chance that the lifting of restrictions would simply ruin the progress made.
'You open at five, do it steady and safe, and the risk of having to go back into lockdown goes down to three percent,' he said.
Mr Andrews said there was a 97 per cent chance the lockdowns would be successful and Victorians would be free to enjoy summer, and Christmas, with very few restrictions, if the lockdowns were lifted with a 14-day average of five cases.
There were 63 new coronavirus cases recorded on Sunday bringing the total number to 19,538, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Sunday.
Of those, 1872 cases are active infections and 1734 are in metropolitan Melbourne, which is still subject to Stage Four restrictions.
Mr Andrews said he was concerned there were cases spreading in the community that had not been picked up by testing, after sewage testing confirmed the presence of the coronavirus at Apollo Bay in southwestern Victoria on the Great Ocean Road on Saturday.
