COVID-19 Update / Australia / 27th, 29th & 30th May

So here we go.....again!
A man spent two weeks in hotel quarantine in South Australia and returned to Victoria in early May and then tested positive.
In the last day, we have seen 12 linked new cases in Victoria, bringing the total number of cases linked to that SA hotel quarantine breach to 26.
One of those people is in an ICU, on a ventilator, and in not a very good way.
In the last day, evidence is they are dealing with a highly infectious strain of the virus which is running faster than they have ever recorded.
There are at least 10,000 primary and secondary contacts who are being isolated.

Therefore from midnight, Victoria will go back into lockdown - for the fourth time.
People can leave the house only for five reasons: caregiving, essential shopping, exercise, essential work and to get vaccinated
A single household can invite only one person into their bubble.
All non-essential stores are to close.
Take-away is still OK.
Masks must be worn everywhere.
Major sporting events will continue, without crowds.
More than 150 sites (including private homes) have been identified as exposure sites.

So South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania have now closed their borders to Victoria, or to parts of Victoria.
New South Wales has also released new health advice for Victorian travellers:
Anyone travelling to NSW who has been in Victoria after 4pm today (Thursday) must follow the stay-at-home measures that will apply in Victoria, which were announced by the Victorian government this morning.

As we have mentioned before, hotel quarantine ‘escapes’ have been the major source of outbreaks. While quarantine is federal responsibility, they have so far left it up to the states to manage.

Of course despite rumblings that is a dereliction their duty, they have been quite happy to let this situation ‘run’ to avoid any backlash when situations like this arise.
Time may be running out for them however after this latest outbreak.

Update: 29th May

Today, Saturday, the number of active locally acquired coronavirus cases in Victoria is 35. All are linked to the latest cluster.
There were 56,624 test results received on Friday - the highest single number of tests completed in a day in Victoria since the pandemic began.
There are now 15,000 Victorians in isolation after potentially being exposed to virus.

The 7 day lockdown continues.

Update: 30th May

Five more cases reported overnight.

As of May 28, just under 15 per cent of the population had received their first vaccination dose and about 1.3 per cent had been fully vaccinated, according to The Age ’s COVID-19 vaccine tracker, which is based on federal and state health department figures.
Australia, which Mr Morrison our Prime Minister once claimed was “front of the queue”, ranks 119th in the world for the percentage of its population that has been fully vaccinated.
This is an appalling statistic.