A ‘DANGEROUS’ TIME FOR VICS
CASES SURGE IN SHUTDOWN STATE
VICTORIA has recorded 273 new cases of coronavirus and one death, as authorities warn police will no longer issue warnings to people found doing the wrong thing.
Students in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire in Prep to Year 10 will also return to remote learning from July 20 until August 19.
No changes have been announced for students across regional Victoria.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday thanked parents in advance, acknowledging it was a challenging time.
“We can’t have the best part of 700,000 students as well as parents moving to and from school, moving around the community, as if there wasn’t a stay-at-home order, as if there wasn’t a lockdown,” he said.
Parents who are essential workers and those who have children with special needs who attend a mainstream school will still be allowed to attend alongside vulnerable children.
There they will do remote learning under the supervision of staff. Special schools will also reopen on Monday, and VCE and VCAL students will continue face-to-face learning.
Laptops and internet dongles will also be available to students learning at home that need them.
“It is our expectation that Catholic education and independent schools will follow the same settings that the government has announced today,” Mr Andrews said.
Early childhood education will also remain open, while Kinder will be free during Term 3 saving parents $460 per child. Parents of children outside the lockdown area will only have to pay half the cost of the subsidy.
A man aged in his 70s is the latest fatality during the state’s second wave.
At least 57 Victorians are in hospital with 16 of those in intensive care.
The new cases bring the state’s total to 3799 cases, with almost 1500 of those active.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said there were at least 145 cases linked to public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, and a further 22 in Carlton.
It comes as a cluster of eight coronavirus cases has been recorded among staff at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
The hospital says the cluster includes five cases acquired through community transmission and three cases detected through contact tracing.
“No-one has to go more than 10km for a testing site in metropolitan Melbourne,” Prof Sutton said.
“We are ramping up testing and have more testing available than anywhere in the country.”
He said child-to-child transmission had become more apparent as most kids were tested but was still “not a significant risk”.
Mr Andrews again put Victorians on notice, reminding them to only go out when for the purposes that are lawful – shopping for essentials, work or study, care or medical treatment, and exercise.
“This is a dangerous time, this is a very challenging time,” Mr Andrews said.
“Victorian police have issued more warnings than fines last time. That won‘t be the case this time.
“If you are out and about doing the wrong thing, then Victoria Police will have no choice but to issue you with a fine.”