Victoria hangs on a knife edge as state records 64 new Covid cases and worrying new cluster emerges as Dan Andrews refuses to confirm whether lockdown will be extended
Victoria is expected to extend its sixth Covid lockdown after recording 64 new cases on Saturday - with half of those infectious while in the community.
The state's latest lockdown, which was initially announced for seven days on August 5, is scheduled to end on September 2.
However, it appears increasingly likely to be extended again given the high number of mystery cases and people infectious in the community recorded each day this week.
On Saturday Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar sidestepped questions about when the lockdown might end saying his team was instead focusing on 'getting this outbreak under control'.
He said with Victoria not due to hit a 70 per cent vaccination rate until November the only way to end the lockdown was to stop community transmission from emerging clusters - such as the four new Covid cases detected at Port Melbourne - using measures including lockdown.
'I'm completely focused on how do we respond to outbreaks and get them under control so we can get our lives back in spring,' he said.
Any change to 'policy settings' was a matter for chief health officer Brett Sutton, he said.
Victoria is expected to extend its sixth Covid lockdown after recording 64 new cases on Saturday - with half of those infectious while in the community. People at St Kilda Beach on Saturday morning are pictured above
Of the new cases recorded on Saturday, 49 are linked to existing cases in the current outbreak and there are 15 'mystery' cases. A woman is pictured running at St Kilda on Saturday
'We still have five or six days of big work to do before September 2, Mr Weimar said.
Four cases were detected in Port Melbourne on Saturday and he directed anyone who attended 'concerning' two new tier 1 exposure sites on Plummer Street, Fisherman's Bend at Port Melbourne between August 13 and 23 to get tested.
They are the Fisherman's Bend Woolworths at 477 Plummer Street and the Auto Mega Warehouse and Prestige Hand Carwash at 467 Plummer.
'The callout is if you have used that area between 13 to 23 August we'd like you to get tested to make sure nothing else is brewing in that spot.'
Covid commander Jeroen Weimar said his focus was on using lockdown to catch and stop emerging clusters, such the four cases detected at Fisherman's Bend, Port Melbourne. Dog walkers at St Kilda are pictured
The state's latest lockdown, which was initially announced for seven days on August 5, is scheduled to end on September 2 but is expected to be extended. A woman is pictured swimming at St Kilda beach on Saturday morning
Mr Weimar said respecting the lockdown rules would give Victorians the best chance of having the lockdown end on time.
'That's why the lockdown is there, it's worked every time we've done it, it's always stopped these outbreaks in their tracks,' he said.
'Right now we still have an opportunity run it to ground.'
Of the new cases recorded on Saturday, 49 are linked to existing cases in the current outbreak and there are 15 'mystery' cases where the origin of the infection is not yet known.
Thirty six of the new cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period. In total Victoria has 701 active Covid cases.
Victoria is expected to extend its sixth Covid lockdown although new cases fell slightly to 64 in Saturday's announcement
A woman is pictured enjoying a swim at St Kilda beach on Saturday before Victoria recorded a further 64 Covid cases
Victorians took 55,333 Covid tests on Friday - a jump of nearly 5,000 on the previous day - and 35,753 vaccines doses were administered.
Regional Victoria followed the capital into lockdown on August 21 after a spike in community transmissions.
On Friday, authorities were refusing to be drawn on whether a lockdown extension is a foregone conclusion, as coronavirus cases remain stubbornly high.
Health Minister Martin Foley said it was too early for officials to make a call and could not provide clarity when asked if Victoria would be in lockdown until hitting 70 to 80 per cent vaccination rates.
'I don't know about that but I know there have been public health measures for the last 18 months in place,' he said.
Of the 64 cases recorded on Saturday, 49 are known to be linked to existing cases in the current outbreak and there are 15 'mystery' cases
Victorians took 55,333 Covid tests on Friday and 35,753 vaccines doses were administered
Victorian authorities are refusing to be drawn on whether a lockdown extension is a foregone conclusion, as coronavirus cases remain stubbornly high
Covid commander Jeroen Weimar said the state's outbreak was 'not wobbly', but conceded Melbourne's west was 'a significant area of concern', with 46 of Friday's 79 new infections coming from there.
'We are at a crossroads,' he said.
More help has arrived for Covid-hit Shepparton as the regional town's outbreak worsens and spreads close to the NSW border.
Ten new cases were linked to the Shepparton outbreak on Friday, taking the cluster to 79 since it first emerged a week ago.
It has also spread to nearby towns after an aged care worker in Echuca, an hour's drive from Shepparton, became infected by her partner.
Melbourne entered its sixth Covid lockdown on August 5 and regional Victoria followed on August 21
Thirty-six of the new cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period. In total Victoria has 701 active Covid cases
'In some regards, we're not quite on top of it,' Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp said.
About 16,000 residents are self-isolating in the region, sparking staff shortages for food distributors, supermarkets and pharmacies.
Hundreds of food packages were delivered to vulnerable members of the Shepparton community on Friday, while Coles has donated two semi-trailers full of products to a local food share agency.