Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has outlaid the conditions required for the state to consider peeling back its strict Stage 3 lockdown conditions as officials continue to fight diligently to contain and squash the handful of remaining active COVID-19 cases in the state.
While other states are slowly peeling back lockdown restrictions – notably New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory – the Victorian State Government remains steadfast in its determination to persist with full lockdown conditions until at least May 11th, when the current state of emergency order expires.
Chiefly, what allowances the state implements after May 11th will be determined almost entirely on Victoria’s ability to roll out its lofty goal of conducting 100,000 additional COVID-19 tests by that date, in what’s effectively doubling the total number of tests carried out in Victoria in just two weeks.
In a press conference this morning, Premier Andrews stated that those tests were crucial to any potential lockdown rollback, with officials wanting to collect as much data on the extent of the virus’s presence in Victoria as possible so as to better manage and contain any future breakouts.
Addressing media, Andrews stated “The more tests we can get done in the lead-up to 11 May, the more options we will have to potentially ease some of the rules.”
“If we are going to change those settings, then we need to be really clear on how much virus is out there in the Victorian community that we didn’t previously know about,” the Premier asserted.
Andrews also stated that part of Victoria’s cautious approach to repealing lockdowns was due to the rate of community transmission in the state, which is the second-highest in Australia behind New South Wales.
“I know it’s easy to think that with such low case numbers maybe the worst has passed, maybe this is over. I just want to remind every Victorian this is very, very fragile. We saw a spike in numbers a couple of days ago. We have had outbreaks in lots of different settings right across Victoria. About 10 per cent of our cases we can’t track them back to an overseas traveller. Not every state is like that. Some states have no community transmission at all,” he said.
Lockdown conditions in New South Wales are easing from today, with 2 adults permitted to visit another house on the basis of socialisation, provided adequate hygiene and social distancing measures are still observed.
