Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has confirmed yet another single-day record for Victoria – and, by extension, Australia – with 532 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the state over the past 24 hours.
In addition to those numbers, 6 additional deaths have been recorded since yesterday; two people aged in their 70s, two in their 80s, one aged in their 90s, and one man aged in his 50s. Five of those six cases are associated with aged care facilities.
There are now 4,542 active cases in Victoria, with 683 of those in aged care facilities. In a concerning stat, Andrews asserted that around 400 health workers were among the active cases in the state.
An exhausted-looking Andrews again called on people who are working through symptoms or continuing to go to work after being tested to isolate properly.
“We have too many people who have symptoms and they are going to work and what that means, even with mask-wearing, even with hand hygiene, even with distancing, that is an unacceptable risk in terms of transmitting this virus. This is what is driving these numbers up and the lockdown will not end until people stop going to work with symptoms and instead go and get tested because they have symptoms. It’s not a matter of blame, it’s not a matter of judgement, these are the facts and unless we see a change, then we’re going to continue to see these numbers at unacceptably high levels. So, please, do – do something that will we’ll all be so grateful for – act on your symptoms,” the Premier said.
There is growing suggestion that poor work culture and the perceived financial pressure associated with insecure work is massively contributing to people feeling like they have to continue to work even when feeling ill.
Premier Andrews last week extended financial support to people who either don’t have sick leave or would lose income if they have to isolate while waiting for test results. That includes payments of $300 for people to stay home between getting tested and receiving results, even if those results come back negative.
