Federal Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr. Nick Coatsworth said that it is important that everyone knows and respects that each state manages its own state public health affairs and makes decisions and is responsible for it. All of us in Australia hope that the outbreak in Victoria can be controlled as soon as possible. We (AHPPC) held a meeting today with Professor Brett Sutton, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, and we are confident that he and Victoria will be able to control the epidemic.
Victoria’s new cases experienced double-digit growth for the fifth consecutive day, prompting the government to extend the state of emergency for another four weeks to 11:59 pm on July 19. Among the new cases, three were related to the outbreak among contractors working at the Stamford Plaza hotel. Passengers returning to Australia were isolated at the hotel, which brought the total number of cluster infections to 13 cases. Another 4 cases were passengers in hotel quarantine, 3 cases were found during routine inspections, and 8 cases were still under investigation. The Director of Health Jenny Mikakos said the state of emergency has been extended to allow the Chief Health Officer to continue to issue new legal directives.
But some restrictions will still be relaxed, including allowing the gym to reopen from today. For those who test positive or are in close contact with an infected person and need to be self-quarantined, the police will also strengthen home inspections. “We will step up inspections during school holidays and ski season,” she said. “We want to make sure that there will not be a large-scale gathering.” “This is a very critical moment for the future of the Victorian virus outbreak. The police will take this outbreak seriously and if someone violates the order, we will punish .”
