Victoria records 1,355 Covid cases as Melbourne crowds test reopening plan

Melburnians flocked to shops, gigs and horse races for the first time in months on Saturday as public health curbs further eased amid greater Covid vaccination uptake.

However, Victoria recorded 1,355 new locally acquired Covid infections and the deaths of 11 Victorians aged between 65 and 85.

The state’s Covid commander, Jeroen Weimar, announced the figures on Saturday, saying he was confident double-dose vaccination coverage had reached 80%, given a reporting lag.

Nationally, the double-dose vaccination rate is sitting at more than 76%, with the 80% threshold to trigger the third stage of the national reopening plan, expected to be reached in less than 10 days.

The death toll from the latest outbreak in Victoria is 293.

Meanwhile, in New South Wales, there were 236 new local Covid cases and three deaths of residents with coronavirus on Saturday.

The latest fatalities included a Newcastle man in his 40s and a western Sydney man in his 60s. Both had received one vaccine dose and had underlying health problems. A Sydney man in his 80s who died at Liverpool hospital was fully vaccinated but had also been ill before contracting the virus.

People scan a QR code to enter a department store in Melbourne.
People scan a QR code to enter a department store in Melbourne. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Deaths across the state since the start of the pandemic now stand at 569.

In the Australian Capital Territory, there were nine additional Covid cases detected.

The figures came as the president of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, Dr Megan Belot, warned Covid patients in rural hospitals were facing extended waits to be airlifted to bigger hospitals.

Belot, who works in country Victoria and was elected to the position last week, said very sick patients were waiting 24 to 48 hours for a flight.

“The reality is our small rural hospitals are going to be pretty busy in the coming months,” she said.

From Monday, both Victoria and NSW will scrap all quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated international arrivals, and while Victoria eased travel restrictions between Melbourne and regional areas on Friday evening, NSW residents will have to wait until Monday for travel between greater Sydney and the regions.

The border between Melbourne and the regions has now come down, masks no longer need to be worn outdoors, and capacity limits have increased for restaurants, pubs and cafes. Indoor entertainment venues, gyms and retail have reopened to fully vaccinated patrons.

The loosening of restrictions in Victoria was marked by a handful of large-scale events, including Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse, where 5,500 people were expected to attend, as well as a concert at Sidney Myer Music Bowl where 4,000 people were set to gather. Only fully vaccinated attendees were allowed.

Weimar – speaking on what was the last of the daily Covid press conferences on Saturday before the Victorian government moves to releasing key information and statistics by a daily press release – said the large-scale events would test Victoria’s reopening plan, and stressed the continued need for social distancing even among fully vaccinated people.

Weimar said two-thirds of the new cases in Victoria were aged under 40, and about one-third under 20.

Regarding rapid antigen tests – which are set to be sold in supermarkets across the country from Monday – Weimar urged people to buy them and keep them in their homes so they could avoid the need to travel to a testing site and risk exposure.

“Stick them in a drawer at home, if you feel symptomatic you can use the test to provide you that extra bit of reassurance – either you are OK or maybe you are not OK,” Weimar said.

“Clearly any positive test with a rapid antigen test needs to be backed up with a PCR, but these are tools that become more possible and as we start to move around.”

Thirty Covid-19 testing sites that were forced to close on Friday due to power outages from wild weather reopened on Saturday.

“If you weren’t able to get to the nearest testing site yesterday, please do so today,” Weimar said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered outside the state’s parliament on Saturday afternoon after pandemic legislation was introduced by the Victorian government.

The protesters chanted “kill the bill” and other anti-vaccine mandate messages.

The legislation passed the lower house on Thursday and will give the premier, Daniel Andrews, the power to declare a pandemic and extend it for three months at a time, for as long as considered necessary. It will require the support of three crossbenchers to pass the upper house.

The federal government said on Saturday it was expecting a greater share of Covid-19 patients to be treated at home as Australia’s vaccination rate climbs and fully vaccinated patients who contract the virus experience less severe symptoms.

Racegoers arrive for Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse.
Racegoers arrive for Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

The Australian health minister, Greg Hunt, said that lower rates of serious cases and hospitalisations would shift the focus to community care, adding that “we know that there will be more cases that will be treated at home because people will be fully vaccinated”.

“They may not require hospitalisation, and so the balance will shift.”

Arriving in Rome for the G20 leaders summit, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Australia’s economy was already showing signs of improvement.

“The scenes in Melbourne as people [are] rushing back to retail shops is just another sign that the national plan is opening up our economy as our vaccination rates rise,” he said.

“Australians are start reclaiming the things Covid has taken from them.”

With Australian Associated Press