Victoria will be plunged into its SIXTH lockdown for seven days from 8pm tonight as Covid-19 cases climb in Melbourne's west and exposure sites balloon - here's everything you need to know
- Dan Andrews has warned Victoria will do 'everything' to avoid Sydney's fate
- Victoria has recorded 8 new cases of Covid-19 just days after ending lockdown
- 'There's only one real way to deal with Delta outbreaks,' Mr Andrews warned
- Lockdown is Melbourne's sixth since the pandemic began in March 2020
- Sudden outbreak comes after Mr Andrews celebrated 'zero' cases just yesterday
Victorians will be plunged in their sixth Covid-19 lockdown after the state recorded eight new infections.
The state-wide lockdown will start at 8pm on Thursday and last for a week.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there was 'no alternative' because the Delta strain is so contagious.
'None of us want to be in a situation where we have to lockdown again but the Delta variant moves so fast,' he said.
'There are no alternatives to lockdown. If you wait, it will spread. And once it spreads, you can never even hope to run alongside it.'
Residents are only allowed to leave home for exercise, essential shopping, caregiving, essential work and getting vaccinated.
Victoria residents are seen wearing masks during the state's previous lockdown in July
With stay at home orders kicking in at 8pm, Mr Andrews told residents: 'Go home, and begin that lock down.
'Don't be out and about because all you might be doing is spreading the virus.'
He asked residents to 'assume you have Covid' and immediately get tested if they suffer any cold and flu symptoms and urged them to obey the rules.
'I plead with all Victorians please don't go and visit family and friends, because you might well be contributing to the spread of the virus,' he said.
The premier said he wanted the lockdown to be successful so the state could open up quickly.
'I'm determined and I believe we have every chance of being open for the vast majority of the time between now and when we are up to 80 per cent of people who have had the jab.
'That is absolutely doable. We all have to pay our part to achieve that outcome,' he said.
Mr Andrews said the whole of the state had to be locked down because of a positive sewage test in Wangaratta, 236km north-east of Melbourne.
'With one sewerage detection we have to assume there are cases,' he said.
Victoria recorded six new cases - including two of unknown origin - on Thursday plus an additional two cases that will be lodged in tomorrow's numbers.
Twenty-one venues have been identified as exposure sites, including a pharmacy a cafe and gym.
The Victorian Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed a female teacher at the Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in the city's west may have been infectious in the community for a week. The teacher lives with her partner in the Hobsons Bay area, he has also tested positive along with two of his family members
One of the two new mystery cases is a teacher in her 20s at a prestigious Islamic school in Melbourne - whose positive result has sent 2,100 students and 300 staff members into isolation for 14 days.
The teacher, who lives in the Hobsons Bay area and works at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in the city's west was diagnosed on Wednesday and may have been infectious in the community and the school for a week.
The teacher's partner, who lives with her, has also tested positive. He works in Caroline Springs and is plays for local Australian Rules club Newport. He played a match on July 31 against West Footscray at Shorten Reserve and members of both teams have been instructed to get tested and isolate.
Two of his family members, who do not live with the couple, returned positive tests today.
A man who lives in the Maribrynong local government area and works at a warehouse in the western suburb of Derrimut is the second new positive case with an unknown source.
Mr Andrews warned on Thursday that his 'government's priority is to avoid what's going on in Sydney', where Delta variant case numbers continue to rise.
'We have got to do everything we can to avoid cases getting out of control like they are in Sydney,' the Premier said.
'Everybody has been very clear about the fact there's only one real way to deal with Delta outbreaks.
'But it's too early to say what will happen in relation to these cases - we're still waiting on interviews, test results, genomic sequencing.'
Alarmingly, of Thursday's cases only three were linked to the outbreaks and were self-isolating while infectious.
The other three cases announced on Wednesday are linked to a testing site traffic controller at Moonee Valley Racecourse who tested positive a week ago with the source of the infection still unknown. The three case were isolating during their infectious period.
Fifteen new exposure sites have been announced, including eight tier one locations in the western suburbs of Caroline Springs, Altona North, Newport and Spotswood.
Spectacle Hub in Caroline Springs is of particular concern after being listed as a tier one site for four days - August 2 and 3, and July 29 and 30.
Anyone who attended the store during these periods is required to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said it was expected that more than 10,000 people could soon become primary close contacts of the new outbreak and be required to isolate.
'Given our understanding of the school community as well as the other exposure sites, we will very quickly pass five to 10,000 close contacts and secondary contacts within hours if not days,' he said.
It is a major setback coming just hours after Mr Andrews and his top officials celebrated a 'doughnut day' of zero cases.
Just yesterday, Mr Andrews had written simply 'zero' in a post on his official Facebook account to celebrate the state's first day without a local infection since July 12.
His chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton had tweeted the result alongside a GIF of Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Ariarne Titmus's coach Dean Boxall doing his famous celebration dance in Tokyo.
The celebrations appear to have been premature.
Victoria's Covid-19 Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said authorities had been unable to connect the Hobsons Bay outbreak and the Maribyrnong case on Thursday.
'We're keeping a completely open mind about lines of investigation,' he said.
'As we always do with these cases when we find a case where we can’t make that immediate connection, we go as wide as possible... at this point, nothing's ruled out.'
Pictured: Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews speaks to the media at a press conference in Melbourne
Mr Andrews wrote simply 'zero' in a post on his official Facebook account to celebrate the state recording no locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday
Al-Taqwa College said classes would be conducted online until August 18 unless the health department advised otherwise.
The Ilim College and Australian International Academy campuses as well as the Islamic College of Melbourne (ICOM) at Tarneit in Melbourne's west were also shut on Thursday as a precaution.
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In separate letters, the three schools reassured parents that none of their students or staff had tested positive so far.
'There are many primary contacts at ICOM who may have been in contact with the Al-Taqwa positive confirmed case,' one said.
The Al-Taqwa teacher is isolating and being interviewed by contract tracers and with urgent investigations are underway into how she contracted the virus.
Two people wearing PPE are seen at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina, Melbourne on Thursday morning
Two masked pedestrians are pictured in Melbourne's Chinatown. Only three of Thursday's new cases were linked to known outbreaks and self-isolating while infectious
A swab test for Covid-19 is carried out in Melbourne on July 16. The positive cases have sparked fears Victoria could be sent back into a hard lockdown only nine days after stay-at-home restrictions were eased across the state
Mr Weimar said the teacher became symptomatic at the end of last week and may have been infectious in the community for a week before testing positive.
'From July 28 to July 30 is the point in time when we're assuming she may have been infectious,' he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
The college has been listed as a tier one exposure site across those three days, while a Coles at Yarraville is a tier two site for specific times on July 29.
The Al-Taqwa College said it would be closed for 14 days - with classes conducted online until August 18 - unless the health department advised otherwise
Mr Weimar said some exposure sites listed in the Hobsons Bay area of Melbourne's south-west might be a connection point for the woman's infection.
Al-Taqwa College was a significant location for transmission in last year's second wave.
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Victora recording 725 cases, the highest daily number of infections in its deadly second wave of the virus.
