Victoria reimposes restrictions after community infection rises

AUSTRALIA’S second most populous state has reimposed coronavirus restrictions after a surge in cases spread through community transmission.

Authorities in Victoria have dropped the number of people allowed inside a household back down to five from 20, after the state reported spikes in cases for five days in a row.

Police will also begin patrolling coronavirus hotspots once more and punishing those breaching regulations. The state had shifted to warning rulebreakers. The government has also extended its state of emergency for at least one more month.

Victoria has now had 1,836 total confirmed cases, a quarter of the cases in Australia, since the Covid-19 pandemic started. Some 210 cases in the state are known to have spread through the community, rather than by travellers.

Jenny Mikakos, the health minister, told The Age authorities were extremely concerned about family gatherings, which have played a key role in the surge in cases after a period of stability.

“Just because you can do something does not you mean you should do it,” she said. “Yes, you have been able to go to local shopping centres, you have been able to go to cafés, you have been able to do many things in recent weeks … but it’s important to understand that in particular parts of Melbourne, we have many confirmed cases.”

Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s premier, had been criticised for his cautious approach to lifting restrictions, including reopening schools, but his fears appear to have been realised with rising case numbers since the state started to ease its rules earlier this month. The Victorian government announced it would halt any further move that would ease restrictions on movements and gatherings.

Conor Mckenna, an Australian football player at Victoria club Essendon, tested positive for Covid-19, leading to the indefinite postponement of his team’s scheduled match yesterday, and could lead to the cancellation of the season, which restarted last weekend.

The surge in Victoria has alarmed other states, which have had few, if any, new cases for several weeks. Queensland and Western Australia, which shut their borders in March and April, said they would look at Victoria’s situation before reopening them.

Despite the surge, health officials see no need to enforce the wearing of face masks. They would have limited value as absolute numbers of transmission remain “very low”, said Nick Coatsworth, Australia’s deputy chief medical officer. Avoiding hugging and kissing was “arguably far more important than, say, wearing masks”, he said.