Victoria is set to report more than 400 cases of coronavirus

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Victoria has reported its worst ever total of 428 new daily coronavirus cases as the state’s second wave continues to spread.  

Three more people – a man and woman in their 80s and a man in his 70s – have died, taking the state’s death toll to 32 and the national death toll to 116. 

A total of 122 Victorians are in hospital with 31 fighting for their lives amid fears dozens more will soon be rushed into intensive care.    

The state has about 160 outbreaks ongoing, including in offices, aged care homes and schools after the virus escaped from the hotel quarantine system in June.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said the virus reproduction rate was about one, meaning each infected person is passing it to one other person on average. 

He said the new case numbers are so high that ‘dozens’ will be hospitalised and several people will die in the coming days.

The catastrophic total comes as:

• New South Wales records eight new cases and tightens restrictions on pubs and clubs
• A Victoria Police officer tests positive, forcing dozens of colleagues into isolation
• Victoria’s Ombudsman investigates the treatment of residents placed on ‘hard’ lockdown 
• Talks restart on a trans-Tasman travel bubble that would exclude Victoria 
• The Prime Minister prepares to announce an extension of JobKeeper on Thursday 

Residents in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are currently under stay-at-home orders which will last for six weeks.

Premier Daniel Andrews said lockdown could be extended or even tightened – but urged residents to follow the rules to avoid that happening.

‘If the data shows the strategy is not being as effective as quickly as we would like then we may need to go to new rules. 

‘The best and most important contribution that every Melburnian and Victorian can make towards that not happening is to follow the rules and to come forward and get tested,’ he said. 

Mr Andrews warned residents not to travel too far from their homes after a family was caught making a 200km round-trip for exercise.

‘A day trip is not the same as daily exercise,’ he said.  

Victoria Police issued $107,000 in fines on Wednesday, many to people who were at illegal parties. Gatherings of more than two are banned in Melbourne. 

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the numbers may get worse.

‘We not have hit our peak,’ he said.

But he was hopeful that the figures will come down once the lockdown kicks in, saying: ‘I expect it to turn around this week. But as I always said, it’s no guarantee.’

The state government is establishing more testing sites in regional centres to tackle the spread of the deadly disease. 

Meanwhile, New South Wales has recorded eight new cases of coronavirus. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tightened restrictions to only allow bookings of 10 people at pubs, clubs and restaurants amid fears of widespread community transmission. 

She has also banned mingling and dancing, and limited weddings to 150 and funerals to 100 people.

‘We’re on high alert and we’re very concerned,’ she said. 

There are now 42 cases linked to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, south-west Sydney. A freight worker from Melbourne brought the virus into NSW when he dined at the pub on 3 July.

Victoria recorded zero new cases on 5 June but numbers started to pick up in the following weeks.

It later emerged that the virus had broken out from hotel quarantine after private security guards interacted with infected guests who had returned from overseas.

Premier Andrews tried locking down 12 postcodes but it failed to stop the numbers growing so the whole of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire was put into six-week lockdown. 

Nine public housing towers were put into ‘hard’ lockdown, meaning residents could not leave without permission. One of the towers is still under those rules until Sunday.

The treatment of those residents at 33 Alfred Street will be investigated by Victoria’s Ombudsman.

Many have complained that they have not been given enough food. Ombudsman Deborah Glass says her office has been contacted by more than 50 people, including public housing residents, advocacy groups and the wider Victorian community.

Ms Glass says her investigation would consider the conditions under which people have been detained at the tower, the nature and accessibility of official communications with residents, and the nature and appropriateness of restrictions upon people’s access to fresh air, exercise, medical care and medical supplies. 

A Victorian police officer based in Melbourne’s CBD has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing almost 30 others into isolation.

The officer based at Crime Command in the Spencer Street complex received the positive test result on Thursday, the force confirmed on Friday.

The office area was deep-cleaned on Thursday afternoon, with other police staff told not to come into the office.

A dozen police members who work in this area were told to immediately self-isolate and be tested, Victoria Police said.

The officer had been in Shepparton last week, prompting 16 police from that station to also be put into isolation and undergo testing. 

Earlier on Friday Scott Morrison said the situation in Victoria meant that the state will likely be excluded from a trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand.

The Prime Minister discussed the travel arrangements with his counterpart Jacinda Ardern last week following Australia’s national cabinet, where the Victorian coronavirus outbreak was canvassed at length.

‘I spoke to Prime Minister Ardern on Friday evening and she raised that very issue with me and we’re progressing those discussions,’ he told 3AW radio.

‘Obviously it’s got to be a little bit moderated for what’s happening in Victoria, but we discussed it at national cabinet last Friday, so we’re working with the states and territories about how they can participate in that.’

The two countries have for months been plotting easing border restrictions for travel across the ditch, but the plans were dealt a blow after Victoria was overwhelmed by a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Mr Morrison is preparing to introduce another wave of coronavirus economic support with almost one million Australians now out of work.

He is putting the final touches on the post-JobKeeper package before the details are announced next week.

‘It will be there for everyone who needs it, based on the impact on their business and the impact on their employees,’ he told the Seven Network.

Mr Morrison said the national measures would ‘disproportionately benefit’ Victoria, where a fresh outbreak has forced millions of Melburnians back into lockdown.