Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reported 331 new cases of COVID-19 in his daily briefing yesterday, a slight increase on Monday’s total of 322 new cases.
The state now has 7,880 active cases with 1,838 linked to aged care settings.
Premier Andrews confirmed 19 new deaths, including a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s, two men in their 70s, one man and six women in their 80s and one man and seven women in their 90s.
Mr Andrews said 14 of these deaths have been linked to aged care outbreaks.
Meanwhile, 122 aged care facilities in Victoria now have an active case.
The major aged care outbreaks in Victoria include:
- 193 cases linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping (5 new cases since Monday)
- 174 cases linked to St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner (3 new cases since Monday)
- 147 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer (1 new case since Monday)
- 127 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth (2 new cases since Monday)
- 107 cases linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge (1 new case since Monday)
- 106 cases linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North (13 new cases since Monday)
- 97 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg (no new cases since Monday)
- 88 cases linked to Arcare Aged Care Facility in Craigieburn (no new cases since Monday)
- 79 cases linked to Glendale Aged Care Facility in Werribee (no new cases since Friday)
- 79 cases linked to Aurrum Aged Care in Plenty (1 new case since Friday)
650 people are in hospital with COVID-19, including 47 in ICU.
Lockdown “the only way forward”
The Premier commented on suggestions the Government “jumped the gun” introducing stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne, saying it was “the only way forward”.
"All of our experts remain convinced and very confident — that as we're just into the early parts of the second week, not even yet a full week, of many of the stage 4 most significant changes — we will continue to see data that forms a trend, and continue to see numbers coming down," he said.
“Things haven’t gone as we would like” – Colbeck
Meanwhile, Minister for Aged Care Senator Richard Colbeck appeared before the press to defend the Federal Government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Senator Colbeck said the government had developed a plan to deal with COVID-19 in residential aged care and had been engaged with the sector since late January.
“I think that there have been some circumstances where things haven’t gone as we would like. And the circumstance at St Basil’s is one, where we didn’t get it all right, and we’ve been prepared to acknowledge that,” he said.
