Warning to take COVID-19 threat seriously – Corowa Free Press

Melbourne has recorded an eighth consecutive day of triple-figure coronavirus infection increases as Sydney deals with concerning disease spotfires.Victorian authorities reported 177 new cases on Monday, a decrease from last week’s high of 288.Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was cautiously optimistic about the numbers, but wants to see a week of lower cases before expressing confidence in the trajectory.
“I’m not going to be complacent about today’s number. It’s great it’s lower than our peak. But it may not be our peak yet,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
Clusters at Melbourne nursing homes have grown, with Menarock Life in Essendon the largest after 26 staff and residents tested positive.
A staff member at a hotel housing about 60 refugees and asylum seekers in the city’s north has tested positive, while 12 have been linked to a meatworks in Melbourne’s west.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged people to maintain social distancing to avoid further outbreaks outside Victoria.
“The lockdown that they’ve put in place will take its effect, but it won’t obviously happen immediately,” he told 2GB radio.
“We’d be expecting some continued case numbers at those sort of elevated levels for some time yet.”
A further 1000 Australian Defence Force troops will be sent to Victoria to bolster the fight against coronavirus.
NSW recorded 14 more cases, with seven part of a cluster at The Crossroads Hotel in the southwest Sydney suburb of Casula.
The pub has been linked to 21 infections.
Authorities want people who visited the venue between July 3 and 10 to self-isolate and get tested.
Federal Labor MP Anne Stanley is in quarantine at home after having dinner at The Crossroads in that period.
There are fears hundreds of people may have been exposed to the virus at Sydney’s Star Casino after a recent patron tested positive.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said investigations around where The Crossroads outbreak originated were ongoing.
“The hypothesis is this could have been introduced through contact in Victoria, but we have to remain open-minded,” she said.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there were hard days ahead as people adjusted to life with coronavirus.
“We always knew the pathway to the economic recovery would be tough,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
The federal government will reveal its plan for coronavirus support beyond September next week in an economic update.
South Australia and NSW have announced identical pricing regimes for returned travellers’ hotel quarantine stays.
Adults will pay $3000 for the first family member and $1000 for every other person.
Families will pay $500 for each child over the age of three.
The death of a Victorian man in his 70s took the national toll to 108 over the weekend.

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