Australia's medical chief 'much less worried' now city is locking down outbreak suburbs
Australia's medical chief says he is "much less worried" now Melbourne is rolling out strict lockdowns on suburbs hit by the new coronavirus outbreak.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said with well over 100,000 tests done since Thursday and new measures to lock down hotspots, have left him "confident" the situation will be brought under control.
However he said it is a possibility more lockdowns could be implemented.
Police checks will be underway on roads in and out of the areas, with fines being issued. Nine
"Very strong and proportionate response being made by the Victorian Government which will get on top of this situation in North Melbourne and protect us all," Professor Kelly told Today.
READ MORE: Coronavirus restrictions ease: State-by-state guide on everything you can do from today
"It's an evolving situation. Numbers have escalated over the last few days.
"Partly that is driven by the very extensive testing that is happening in those suburbs and throughout Melbourne, well over 100,000 tests since Thursday. That's a major escalation.
From midnight on July 1, 36 suburbs across 10 postcodes in Melbourne will go into lockdown because of a spike in coronavirus cases. Nine News
"We are going to find more cases when that happens."
Most of the case are in family clusters and have spread to the wider community, Professor Kelly said.
Ten suburbs are affected by the midnight lockdown, with people only allowed to leave home for four essential reasons.
Australia's medical chief says he is "much less worried" now Melbourne is rolling out strict lockdowns on suburbs hit by the new coronavirus outbreak. Nine
Businesses, many of which have just reopened, will be forced to close again.
Police checks will be underway on roads in and out of the areas, with fines being issued.
Professor Kelly described the measures as "essentially creating a border within a state."
He said he knew there had been issues over hotel quarantines - which have seen staff breaking rules and taking the virus home and transmitting it across the community.
He also said the spread has been faster than Italy's, per capita.
Panic buying has been seen again in Melbourne amid the new spike in virus cases. Nine
"It appears that's been the major driver of this issue in the wider community, so it just demonstrates how infectious this virus is and how important infection control procedures are," Professor Kelly said.
International flights are being diverted to Sydney for two weeks, meaning there will be no new people put into hotel quarantine in the city.
Professor Kelly said while new outbreaks are expected, this one is "a bit larger than we would have liked."
READ MORE: List of Melbourne lockdown suburbs
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
