More than 1000 troops are on their way to Victoria to help the state fight its growing coronavirus spike.
Aside from Australian Defence Force personnel, the state will also get assistance from NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland to process tests for the virus.
A handful of ADF staff have helped in Victoria for several months, but the contingent will drastically ramp up following days of concerning coronavirus infection numbers in the state.
“Defence has been providing support to Victoria since April and I’m pleased we’re able to rapidly increase our assistance to help Victoria respond to its current COVID-19 circumstances,” Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said.
Up to 850 ADF members will help with monitoring returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, while about 200 personnel will provide logistical and medical support for coronavirus testing.
The agreement will be in place until the end of July.
Victoria has recorded 128 new cases of COVID-19 in the past week, with 20 cases and a death logged on Wednesday.
The state’s active cases have jumped from 58 to 143 since June 14, while the rest of the country combined has had only 20.
Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said the deployment of more defence personnel sent a “strong message” about the seriousness of the virus.
“Complacency has possibly started to set in and it is a reminder that the virus is still there,” he told the ABC.
“We need to get on top of this before, indeed, it becomes anything more and leads us into a second wave.”
Hotel quarantine is one of the main concerns for Victorian health authorities. At least 33 staff working at quarantine hotels have been infected with COVID-19 and officials are investigating links between workers and other outbreaks.
Currently, 30 people in hotel quarantine have the virus.
More than 17,000 returned travellers have done a fortnight’s hotel quarantine in Victoria since the start of the pandemic.
Elsewhere, community engagement in the local government areas of Brimbank, Casey, Cardinia, Darebin, Hume and Moreland has ramped up after they were identified as coronavirus hotspots.
The areas have large migrant populations, with many speaking languages other than English at home.
Information about the virus has been translated into 55 languages but state Health Minister Jenny Mikakos conceded the government has to “work harder to reach these people”.
On Wednesday, a Victorian man in his 80s became Australia’s first coronavirus-related death in more than a month, bringing the state’s death toll to 20 and the national toll to 103.
Of the state’s 20 new cases on Wednesday, nine were identified through routine testing, seven were linked to known outbreaks and one was a returned traveller in hotel quarantine. Three other cases remain under investigation.
Three people have been linked to a Keilor Downs family cluster, two are staff members at Hampstead Dental in Maidstone, one case has been linked to Northland H&M and another has been linked to St Monica’s college at Epping.
Since the spike in new cases, drive-through testing sites have experienced extremely high demand while panic buying has also returned, with Coles and Woolworths reinstating purchase limits.
-with AAP
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