Victoria has recorded 16 new coronavirus cases overnight, with numbers the highest in more than two months after six days of double-digit growth.
Of the 16 new cases, six are linked to known outbreaks, four are in hotel quarantine, five have been detected through routine testing, and one is under investigation, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said on Monday.
It comes as the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has advised Australians to avoid travel to and from coronavirus hotspots in Victoria.
The AHPPC is chaired by the Australian Chief Medical Officer, with the members including all state and territory Chief Health Officers.
The Victorian government has listed several local government areas as hotspots, including Hume, Casey and Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos addresses the media Source: AAP
"We have a team of 50 starting from today to do doorknocking. We are going to start with Brimbank and Cardinia, and they will be people clearly identifiable as public health officials who will be able to provide the community in those hotspot locations with more information and advice," Ms Mikakos said.
Ms Mikakos is urging all Victorians to avoid the hotspots and follow health advice.
“Just because you don't live in a local government hotspot area does not mean that your area is without risk, and everybody should still be complying very closely with all of the public health advice,” she said.
Ms Mikakos said two of the state's new cases are linked to Albanvale Primary School, including two teachers.
A map showing the coronavirus hotspots in Victoria as identified by the state's health department. Source: Victorian Department Of Health And Human Services
A toddler has also tested positive, with the New Beginnings Nursery in Reservoir shutdown for deep cleaning.
Two new cases have also been linked to H&M retail store at Northland Shopping Centre.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the spike in Victoria is a “wake up call” that COVID-19 has not dissipated.
“Australia has fared incredibly well compared to the rest of the world. But that cannot be cause for complacency,” he said.
“COVID hasn't gone anywhere. It's still out there and it can still take hold.”
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton reiterated the 6 June Black Lives Matter protest is not thought to be behind the state’s spike in cases.
“People are not doing things as stringently as they might have done a month, two months ago,” he said.
“But I don’t think the Black Lives Matter protest has contributed [to it]. We are not seeing people who have clearly acquired it there.”
Victoria caused government 'significant concern'
The federal health department's chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy said the situation in Victoria was concerning, but he had faith in state authorities.
"Victoria did concern us, no question about that. The rate of rise and the fate it was community transmission caused significant concern," he told reporters on Monday.
"I have great confidence in the Victorian response. They are responding very effectively and we need to watch things over the next few days to see what happens," he added.
"The early signs are that it is not escalating at the moment. We have to make sure it is brought under control."
Australians urged to reconsider travel
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejikilian said her state would keep its border with Victoria open, but urged residents to reconsider travel to Melbourne.
“We would recommend people not at this stage travel to Melbourne unless they have to,” she said.
“However, there is a level of discretion there. The strong recommendation from the New South Wales government, including our health officials, is ‘do not travel to those hot spots at all’.”
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said authorities in the state are worried about Victoria’s spike in cases.
“I have concerns about Victoria. The health minister has concerns about Victoria. There is a lot of active community transmission happening in Victoria and I hope that Victoria can get this community transmission under control,” she said.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan said officials in his state are also closely monitoring the situation.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejikilian Source: AAP
“Clearly it makes you have second thoughts, particularly because this community spread in Victoria has now been going on for about a week and they can’t track it down,” he told 6PR radio.
“They’ve actually shut down parts of their economy they had reopened. So that’s the risk, if you get the virus back you then have to start shutting down again.”
Victoria doubles efforts to reach CALD communities
Ms Mikakos said the Victorian government will step up testing and community engagement in the hotspot areas, with a focus on areas with lower English-speaking levels.
“We want to make sure that everyone in the state understands the public health messaging,” she said.
“We acknowledge the challenges in some communities for whom English may not be their first language in understanding the public health messaging, and this is why we are going to double our efforts in working with those communities."
Some of the hotspot areas also have higher levels of lower socio-economic disadvantage, Ms Mikakos said.
“We have some communities, not all of them, but there are very strong pockets of disadvantage in some of these communities,” she said.
“We want to make sure that people are receiving this message, regardless of their English language proficiency and so that people don't have any anxiety about getting tested because it might have implications for their working arrangements.”
Victoria has 125 active cases of COVID-19, including nine in hospital and two in intensive care.
Just over 1,700 people have recovered.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
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