Victoria has recorded its second biggest spike in new COVID-19 cases with 374 new infections as Melbourne is overwhelmed by a second wave of the deadly respiratory illness.
Tuesday’s total is far higher than Monday’s figure of 275 and second only to the 428 cases confirmed on July 17.
Premier Daniel Andrews also confirmed three more people in the state died from COVID-19 overnight – taking the national death toll to 126.
Mr Andrews said a woman in her 80s, a woman in her 90s and a woman aged over 100 had all lost their lives.
The spike in cases follows data released on Monday showing the number of active cases in Melbourne fell in most local government areas except for two danger zones where cases surged.
Brimbank, west of the CBD, on Monday recorded 19 new cases to hit a total of 271, while Wyndham, south-west of the city, suffered 10 more cases to reach 350.
Tuesday’s spike in cases comes just a day before masks become compulsory in Victoria, with $200 fines for failing to wear them from 11.59pm on Wednesday night.
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk through the city on Monday. Victoria has recorded its second biggest spike in new COVID-19 cases
A woman wearing a face mask walks through Melbourne on Monday. Tuesday’s total is far higher than Monday’s figure of 275 and second only to the 428 cases confirmed on July 17
New South Wales meanwhile has recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases – with ten linked to an outbreak at the Thai Rock Restaurant in Stockland Mall at Wetherill Park in Sydney’s west.
Another two new cases were associated with the Crossroads Hotel cluster in Casula, which is now linked to 50 cases.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian insisted she will not jump ahead of health advice by mandating the wearing of masks in public amid the growing COVID-19 case load.
While refusing to follow Victoria’s lead by enforcing mask use in public, Ms Berejiklian urged people wear masks where social distancing was impossible.
She said social distancing remained more important, while NSW Health on Tuesday said it encouraged residents to avoid non-essential travel.
‘What NSW Health and myself are worried about most at this moment in time is what people are doing when they’re entering hospitality venues … you can’t wear a mask when you’re having a meal,’ Ms Berejiklian told 2GB radio.
‘That’s where the biggest risk is at the moment, indoor events.
‘The health advice to date has served NSW extremely well and it’s not for politicians to make this stuff up as we go.’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is pictured entering Monday’s press conference wearing a face mask. He will confirm the official figures for the past 24 hours at a press conference on Tuesday morning
Sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald that sector-targeted lockdowns, such as the closure of pubs and restaurants in Sydney, are more likely than total lockdown if infections continue to climb.
‘Lockdowns of sectors could happen, predominantly pubs and restaurants,’ one minister said.
Another minister said there was ‘no appetite for a full lockdown’ but a feeling that some restrictions needed to be altered.
‘I think there is a feeling that some things may have gone too far, too quickly and we will need to tighten some areas again,’ the minister said.
A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks past a sign advertising masks in Melbourne on Monday
Brimbank, west of the CBD, on Monday recorded 19 new cases to hit a total of 271, while Wyndham, south-west of the city, suffered 10 more cases to reach 350
Victoria reported 275 infections and the death of an aged care resident in her 80s on Monday
‘I think given the cautious nature of Gladys, she was probably pushed further into opening things up by [Deputy Premier John] Barilaro and [Treasurer Dominic] Perrottet than she felt comfortable with.’
The New South Wales Labor Party has called for all residents to wear masks on public transport.
Masks are compulsory in Victoria, with $200 fines for failing to wear them from Thursday.
Three of the 20 cases reported in NSW on Monday are linked to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, bringing the total number of cases linked to the cluster to 48.
A couple wearing face masks in Melbourne this week. The protective item will be mandatory in the state from 11.59pm on Wednesday
Pictured: Medical staff at a pop-up COVID-19 site in Casula, Sydney’s south-west
Eight new cases are linked to the Thai Rock restaurant in Wetherill Park, four are linked to the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, four are returned travellers in hotel quarantine and one is a person who has returned from Victoria.
Ms Berejiklian said she was concerned NSW was at a ‘critical point’ in the pandemic.
She said the state has the chance to get ahead of the virus and control the spread if residents limit their activities and practise social distancing over the next few weeks.’If you cannot guarantee social distancing where you’re going… you must wear a mask,’ she told reporters in Sydney.
An inquiry into Victoria’s botched hotel quarantine system meanwhile opened on Monday with the revelation every single new case of coronavirus within the state in recent weeks could be linked to the under-fire program.
The possibility that the state’s second deadly outbreak of COVID-19 could be the result of mistakes made while housing returned travellers will be investigated in a formal inquiry. Pictured: A staff member inside a quarantine hotel
The state government launched the investigation, headed by retired judge Jennifer Coate, after new COVID-19 cases in late May and early June were linked to infection control breaches by security guards at quarantine hotels.
Senior assisting counsel Tony Neal QC on Monday suggested the failures of the mandatory isolation could be far more widespread than initially anticipated.
‘Comments made by the chief health officer to the media have suggested that it may even be that every case of COVID-19 in Victoria in recent weeks could be sourced to the hotel quarantine program,’ he said.
More to come