Coronavirus: 49 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Victoria

Victoria has recorded its highest number of new cases since early April, reporting 49 new cases of COVID-19 overnight. But of the new cases – which bring the state’s tally to 2036 – only four are linked to known outbreaks, sparking concern over widespread community transmission – the worst case scenario.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said health authorities would have a clearer picture tomorrow of whether the 45 cases under investigation might also be linked to existing clusters.
“Again, with yesterday’s numbers at 41, the great majority of those ended up being linked to known outbreaks and clusters. I imagine it will be the same for today.”
Professor Sutton warned, “Unfortunately we will see deaths associated with it because it represents a lot of transmission and there will be a lot of vulnerable people potentially exposed.”
He urged residents in hotspot areas to “minimise your interaction with other people to the fullest extent that you can”.
Additional intervention will be considered if the numbers don’t plateau in the coming days, he said.
This would likely be localised, and occur in “a particular postcode or a particular suburb where there are significant increase in cases, you can’t link to outbreaks and can’t see where the relationship in all of those cases are”.
Premier Daniel Andrews also announced returned travellers in hotel quarantine who refuse coronavirus tests will not be allowed to leave for an additional 10 days.
Fines of up to $1600 for returned travellers in hotel quarantine refusing coronavirus tests, and suburban lockdowns are also under consideration in a drastic bid to control the worsening coronavirus outbreak.