Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed that flights into Victoria have been suspended while the state endures a five-day lockdown due to a growing coronavirus cluster.
One new locally-acquired case was recorded in Victoria on Saturday, while five new cases were recorded on Friday.
Speaking at a Saturday afternoon press conference, Mr Andrews said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had agreed to the suspension of flights.
“It’s not instantaneous because flights are already in the air, and people are well and truly on their way to coming home. They may be in transit, they may be in Singapore or another place, all those issues,” he said.
“There will be five more flights. We think there are about 100 passengers on those. They will be appropriately taken care of, but there are no further fights flights beyond those five until next Thursday but will keep you informed of that as we get closer to Thursday.”
The Victorian weekly cap had been set to lift from 1210 to 1310 overseas arrivals.
A reduced traveller cap would make it harder for Australians stranded overseas to make it home. Thousands are already struggling with constantly cancelled flights and high ticket prices.
Mr Andrews said it was for the federal government to decide how many people would be returning to Australia.
But Mr Morrison has defended the hotel quarantine program, arguing that leaks are inevitable.
Mr Andrews said there are now 14 cases linked to Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn, the site from where the UK variant of the virus escaped.
“Overnight and within eight hours of that test coming to us, all 38 household primary social close contacts of that person have been contacted, have been locked down, and we have already begun the process of testing each of those 38 people,” he said on Saturday.
“That will be a big focus of our efforts today and we hope to be able to report negative results … as soon as they come to us, most likely a feature of tomorrow’s briefing.”
The new case is a social primary close contact, who is a friend of one of the Holiday Inn workers.
There are now 996 identified primary contacts of the Holiday Inn outbreak in isolation.
Mr Andrews also noted that 11 of the 12 staff at the exposure site at Brunetti’s cafe in a Melbourne airport terminal have now tested negative.
“There is pain out there and I will have more to say about support for business and others who have been negatively impacted by this absolutely necessary public health measure, to protect all the things we’ve built, this precious thing with built,” the Premier said.
He praised the “courage” and “compassion” of Victorians, saying it “sets us apart”.
“I know it’s not easy, and that is why there will be support there and I will have more to say.”
The virus has escaped from hotel quarantine in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide in recent months.
The Melbourne outbreak can be traced back to a family of three who quarantined at the Holiday Inn and are believed to have been infected overseas.
One family member, who is in intensive care, used a medical device called a nebuliser in their room despite them being banned outside of medi-hotels.
Mr Andrews was asked repeatedly about conflicting reports over the family member, but said he would direct those to Emma Cassar, the head of COVID-19 quarantine Victoria.
“My understanding and my expectation is that all relevant material within any government department will be shared with anyone who needs to know about it and it was my sense that was happening,” he said.
“I certainly don’t have any advice to say it wasn’t. Probably the best person to be able to take you through, in quite some detail about the infection prevention and control framework they have as their own framework with the specific task and no other task, is the person who leads the team and she will speak to you later.”
In the same press conference, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton addressed concerns over the possibility of an extended lockdown, after a recent health directive made reference to 26 February.
“All directions have always been written until the end of the emergency period, whenever that relevant state of emergency period has been extended. That applies to all directions across all periods,” he said.
“So they will be revoked at any point where we think the settings need to be changed. So that has applied previously when we have already had a flagged date of easing of restrictions. We have still had an end date of the end of state of emergency period is absolutely nothing different in the way directions have made written at this stage.
“Nothing should be read into it as having an intention to extend beyond a day beyond when we think they need to be in place. For now, that is five days, absolutely.”
Elsewhere, NSW and Queensland on Saturday both reported no new local cases in their respective 24-hour reporting windows. Both states reported two new cases in travellers in hotel quarantine.
Victorian visitors to NSW from Saturday will be obliged to follow their home state’s “stay at home” orders. This does not apply to residents of NSW border communities unless they have visited Greater Melbourne.
But NSW has strongly advised its residents to avoid non-essential travel to Victoria.
Tasmania, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia have closed their borders to Victorian travellers.
– Additional reporting by AAP.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction’s restrictions on gathering limits. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus
Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania
