Victoria’s Fifth Lockdown Extended
Victoria’s lockdown will be extended for a further seven days until Tuesday July 27 at 11.59pm.
Nine new locally acquired cases of coronavirus were reported in the community in the past 24 hours.
One of those new infections is under investigation, the Department of Health has revealed.
A total of 13 cases were officially added to the books on Tuesday, but four of those were announced on Monday.
At least four of the 13 new cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period.
There are 85 active local cases.
More than 49,450 tests were carried out in the past 24 hours.
Premier Daniel Andrews said Victorians would have to work “very, very hard” to have the state being the process of opening up at midnight next Tuesday, July 27.
“We wish we could bring this in earlier, but we can’t run the risk that there are cases out there,” he said.
The Premier said due to the serious and persistent nature of the risk in NSW, Victoria could not continue to have hundreds of people coming to Victoria every day.
“For this reason, the Chief Health Officer will temporarily pause the issuing of Red Zone Permits from 11.59pm on Tuesday, July 20,” Mr Andrews said.
“For at least the next two weeks, Victorian residents in red zones will require an exemption to enter the state — and these will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.”
The Premier said anyone entering Victoria from New South Wales without an exemption would be put on a return flight or placed in 14 days mandatory quarantine under the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) program.
Fines of $5452 may be imposed if a person is found to have entered Victoria from a red zone without a permit.
