Australian authorities nervous about surge in Melbourne cases
Jamie Smyth in Sydney
Australia faces a “worrying” spike in coronavirus infections with 75 new cases reported in the state of Victoria on Monday, prompting authorities to warn that they are “on the verge of” being able to handle the outbreak.
“Obviously we are concerned about the growing number and the upward trend and we are monitoring the situation very closely,” said Jenny Mikakos, Victoria’s health minister.
The total number of cases in Victoria since the pandemic began is now nearly 2,100 with double-digit increases occurring every day for most of the past two weeks after relaxation of some social distancing restrictions.
The spike in cases is baffling Australian officials, who have begun to reverse measures aimed at suppressing the spread of Covid-19 to fuel economic recovery.
Australia has been successful in limiting the spread of Covid-19 with several states that did not report new cases for more than a week. But the situation in Victoria, of which Melbourne is the state capital, poses a risk to plans to reopen state borders to tourism later this month.
Brett Sutton, Victoria’s director of health, said the state was on the verge of being able to handle the recent Covid-19 outbreak, which has accelerated in several Melbourne suburbs. He said authorities were considering recommending that people start wearing masks on public transportation and in other situations, where social distancing is not possible, and a return to a stricter blockade is possible.
“It is pretty clear that wearing a mask could provide a little more physical distance between you and others when they see you wearing it,” he said.
The increase in Victoria has complicated the return of Australian Rules Football, as the national sports body was forced to reorganize matches due to new quarantine measures implemented by Queensland authorities for any team that plays alongside Victoria. .
The Queensland state government will announce Tuesday whether it will go ahead with plans to open its borders to travelers from other states.
