Victoria has had another near-record day of coronavirus infections, reporting 270 confirmed cases on Tuesday.
It is the fourth day since last Thursday the state has had more than 200 new COVID cases, with only Monday falling below that.
With the combined totals – including a record thus far for the pandemic of 288 on Friday – Victoria’s coronavirus infections have soared by 1224 in just five days.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the latest grim tally, which includes 85 patients in hospital. Of those, 27 are in intensive care – up from 17 on Monday.
Tuesday’s figures came after Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, conceded a “small bit of optimism” when 177 were reported on Monday.
On Tuesday, he said: “I warned that we can’t be complacent about numbers on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s not as high as our biggest single day, but we haven’t turned the corner yet. I hope to see that this week, but there are no guarantees.”
Victoria has more than 1800 active COVID cases – bring a warning that the number of people in hospital will also continue to climb.
“There’s often 10 per cent to 20 per cent of all coronavirus infections who require hospitalisation, so that’s a couple of hundred individuals at least,” Professor Sutton said.
“They will require hospitalisation in the next couple of weeks.”
He urged GPs to monitor patients and refer them to extra care sooner rather than later.
“It’s important to see these patients early if they’re deteriorating. It avoids the worst outcomes – intensive care or death,” he said.
Victoria’s new cases take Australia’s national virus toll to a grim milestone of more than 10,000 confirmed infections.
NSW now on high alert
The numbers include 13 more in NSW on Tuesday as authorities try to quell an outbreak centred on the Crossroads Hotel at Casula, in Sydney’s south-west. There are now 28 cases now linked to that hotel.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters NSW was in “a stage of high alert”.
“We are in a pandemic and you can’t have good compliance unless all of us take personal responsibility for the way in which we conduct ourselves as well,” she said.
Tweet from @NSWHealth
On Monday, NSW Health confirmed 10 cases linked to the hotel. A further 11 were indirectly linked and connected to a host of venues across NSW venues, including Sydney’s The Star casino.
Dr Kerry Chant urged anyone who has been at the Crossroads Hotel between July 3-10 to come forward and get tested to help NSW Health understand the scope of the outbreak.
One of NSW’s new cases is a worker at the Casula Kmart who shift was on July 10 from 5pm to midnight.
Dr Chant said anyone who was at that Kmart to “watch for symptoms, self-isolate and get tested”.
Meanwhile, Queensland has declared two Sydney local government areas near the hotel – Liverpool and Campbelltown – as COVID hotspots from midday on Tuesday. Anyone who has been in those areas in the past 14 days will no longer be able to enter Queensland without completing a fortnight in quarantine.
Hundreds of people who visited the busy hotel from July 3-10 are now in isolation.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles confirmed on Tuesday that 18 Queenslanders were among them. They have been tested and are in isolation, awaiting results.
Dr Miles, who said the Crossroads Hotel – which is within 10 kilometres of the busy Southern Cross Transport Terminal at Chipping Norton – was a hub for travellers and truck drivers transporting freight interstate.
He said anyone in Queensland who visited the pub in the period of concern should be tested for the virus and isolate themselves immediately.
“The hotel is a busy stopover for many travellers, so it is very likely that there are a number of Queenslanders who have been there during this period,” he said.
On Monday, Dr Chant confirmed authorities were looking at the possibility a truck driver might be the source of the pub outbreak.
The NSW government will also announce a return to stricter requirements for pubs on Tuesday.
Hotel cluster puts border restrictions in doubt
In South Australia, a review of its border measures with NSW and the ACT is underway with an eye to the worsening outbreak. SA is due to lift restrictions from July 20, but the hotel cluster has put that in doubt.
Premier Steven Marshall said there was a question mark over the timetable. An update is expected later on Tuesday.
SA has previously lifted the quarantine restrictions for people coming from Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
But it has imposed a hard border closure with Victoria, allowing only locals to return and essential travellers through, because of the surge of infections in Melbourne. Queensland is also maintaining its ban on visitors from Victoria.
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