Victoria's cluster in Australia swells to 51, next few days 'critical'

SYDNEY • Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria, the epicentre of the country's latest coronavirus hot spot, reported 11 new cases of community transmission, and the authorities warned the situation could worsen in the coming days.

The state officially reported five new cases in the 24 hours to midnight. At a press conference yesterday, the authorities announced that a further six cases were recorded after the late-night cut-off, which will reflect in today's data, taking the current cluster to 51.

Victoria went into a strict seven-day lockdown last Friday after new coronavirus infections in the state capital Melbourne ended its three-month run of zero community cases.

The authorities identified several Melbourne schools, supermarkets, department stores and gyms among hundreds of exposure sites.

The swelling numbers have raised questions over whether the lockdown will be extended beyond the seven days announced initially.

"The challenge ahead of us is a very, very significant one," Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino told reporters. "We are seeing a small number of cases infecting a large number of contacts."

The situation was "incredibly serious" and the next few days will be critical, he added. "I want to be really clear with everyone that this outbreak may well get worse before it gets better."

Medical officials have said the latest Covid-19 variant, first detected in India, was likely to be more virulent than the original strains, taking just one day to infect another person compared with earlier strains that can take about five or six.

The authorities are also concerned about the prospect of a larger outbreak in aged care homes after two workers and one resident at the Arcare facility in Melbourne tested positive, the home operator said in a statement. Another resident is being retested for Covid-19.

Victoria endured one of the world's strictest and longest lockdowns last year to suppress a second wave of Covid-19 that killed over 800 people in the state, accounting for 90 per cent of Australia's total deaths since the pandemic began. Overall, the country has been among the most successful globally in curbing the pandemic, thanks to swift contact tracing, snap lockdowns and strict social distancing rules, with 22,275 local cases and 910 deaths.

The latest outbreak in Victoria has spurred people to get inoculated, with the federal health minister saying a record 630,547 doses were delivered last week, twice the number seen four weeks ago.

Nationally, 4.24 million Covid-19 doses have been delivered.

REUTERS