Coronavirus update for Victoria - 22 June 2020

The total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Victoria is 1847, with 16 new cases reported yesterday.

Five previously reported cases have been identified as duplicates and removed from the total.

Yesterday’s new cases are made up of six linked to outbreaks, five cases identified through routine testing, four cases detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine and one case under investigation.

There have been no new deaths reported. To date, 19 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.

There have been 222 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that have been acquired through unknown transmission. There are currently 125 active cases in Victoria.

Currently, nine people with coronavirus infection are in hospital, including two patients in intensive care. 1701 people have recovered from the virus.

Of the total 1847 cases, there have been 1551 in metropolitan Melbourne and 240 in regional Victoria. The total number of cases is made up of 985 men and 862 women. More than 667,000 tests have been processed to date.

Two further security contractors have been linked to the outbreak at the Stanford Plaza Hotel, taking the outbreak total to 14. Investigations into potential sources of transmission, testing of staff and follow up of close contacts is underway.

Two further cases have been linked to H&M Northland, taking the total to four. One new case is a household contact of a staff member who tested positive on Friday. The other new case is a staff member, who did not work at the store while infectious. This staff member attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne on Saturday 6 June but is not thought to have acquired the infection from the protest. The H&M store has undergone a deep clean and contact tracing is continuing.

Two new cases are linked to Albanvale Primary School. A teacher at the school has tested positive, who is a household contact of the initial case. A second teacher also tested positive yesterday. The teacher worked while infectious on 15 to 17 June. The school is currently closed while contact tracing and testing is under way.

A childcare center in Melbourne’s north will close today for deep cleaning. A child who has tested positive attended Great Beginnings Reservoir, an early education centre, while infectious. Contact tracing is under way and testing will be conducted as appropriate.

“We have made some great progress in slowing the spread of coronavirus, but we are still seeing transmission in households and other settings,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said.

“We’ve had more than 120 new cases in the past seven days and the main cause for this increase has been through cases in families – where people have not followed our advice around physical distancing, hygiene and limiting the number of people you invite into your home.

“As a consequence, the Victorian Government has announced a tightening of the rules and has reduced the number of visitors you can have in your home to five. Outside of the home, people can now gather in groups of up to 10 only.

“This move is important to keeping our community safe and to ensure COVID-19 does not get away from us. We do not want Victoria to suffer like many major cities around the world who have been devastated by the severe impacts of COVID-19.

“We have been very successful so far in avoiding the worst consequences of this disease and we cannot let our good work so far go to waste. The message is clear – don’t take this disease lightly – stay home, don’t go to work if you can work from home, don’t visit friends and family, don’t go on holiday.

“It remains critical to practice good hygiene – wash your hands regularly and cough and sneeze into a tissue or your elbow and try to avoid touching your face. “Stay 1.5 metres away from anyone you don’t live with and avoid crowds, especially indoors. If you can keep working from home – you must keep working from home.

“And if you do feel unwell with any symptoms of coronavirus you should get tested. This includes fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose or loss of sense of smell.”

Media inquiries:

Department of Health & Human Services Media Unit (03) 9096 8860 or press@dhhs.vic.gov.au

Cases by Local Government Area

Please find the latest COVID-19 notifications by local government areas below.

Note:

• Residential location is the residential address provided when the case is notified.
• This is not where they were infected and may not be where the case currently resides.
• Numbers are correct as of 11.59pm last night but are subject to change as cases are followed up and data is analysed.
• The last column shows the number of current active cases in an LGA. Active cases are defined as someone who has tested positive, is currently in isolation and being monitored by the Department and who has not yet recovered.