There are emerging signs Melbourne’s lockdown is suppressing transmission and quelling its COVID-19 outbreak. But experts are divided on the need for a longer lockdown.
Victoria s coronavirus lockdown is unnecessary because there are no mystery cases and could have been avoided if the state government had set up a universal QR code check-in system, a diseases expert has told Daily Mail Australia.
Seven million Victorians are being ordered to stay at home in a circuit-breaker lockdown that started on Friday morning as an outbreak in Melbourne grew to 30 cases of the Indian variant of the disease.
But Professor Peter Collignon, of the Australian National University, said short lockdowns impose huge costs and do not help stop the spread of the virus as long as cases and contacts are isolated by a good tracing system.
‘These short lockdowns haven’t added much’: Infectious diseases expert27/05/2021|7min
Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon says lockdowns are needed at certain times when there is significant community transmission, but the short lockdowns “haven’t added much”.
His comments come as Victoria is set to undergo a seven-day circuit breaker lockdown after a COVID-19 outbreak grew to 26 cases.
“These short lockdowns – I guess we only know in retrospect – all the ones we’ve had in New Zealand, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, as far as I can see, they haven’t added much,” Professor Collignon told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.