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Victoria s Acting Premier James Merlino has urged all Victorians to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with primary and secondary contacts of the Melbourne cluster having jumped to more than 15,000 people.
Victoria reported four new local COVID-19 infections on Friday morning, hours after the state plunged into a week-long lockdown and as authorities continued to scramble to contain an outbreak now at 30 cases.
There are 1,452 people now identified as primary contacts - or close contacts - associated with the Whittlesea and Port of Melbourne outbreaks, with one person the link between the two.
Authorities have said the state is dealing with the highly infectious B161 variant, which was first detected in India.
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Victorians are preparing for another coronavirus lockdown, their fourth since the beginning of the pandemic, as health authorities scramble to stop an outbreak of 26 cases from growing out of control.
Labelled a “circuit breaker” lockdown by acting Victorian Premier James Merlino, the statewide stay-at-home order will come into force from midnight on Thursday and is set to remain in place for seven days.
It means Victorian residents will only be able to leave their home to purchase essential supplies, get vaccinated, attend permitted work, exercise, or to care for another person or receive care. Residents are also permitted to visit their intimate partner, a single “social bubble buddy”, or leave their home in an emergency.
The Labor Party is calling on the Morrison government to fast-track the approval of its proposed purpose-built quarantine facility.
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has pointed out the current hotel quarantine system poses risks of infection breaches and community transmission.
The latest cluster is the 17th time in six months the virus has escaped hotel quarantine, putting pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to fund facilities which are fit for purpose.
Victoria will enter stage three lockdown tonight with schools closed and only five reasons to leave home - as a Covid cluster grows to 26 with 11 new cases overnight.
Panic buyers have stripped Melbourne s supermarket shelves of toilet paper - with shoppers posting pictures of empty shelves just minutes after it was announced the state would go into lockdown.