According to Andrews, the extended state of emergency order, which was originally scheduled to expire on April 13, will give the Victorian Government “the powers it needs to keep slowing the spread of coronavirus and save lives.”
Measures, such as social distancing, isolation, and the shutting down of non-essential services, will continue and “give our health system the best chance of managing the virus.”
“We are aggressively tracing our outbreaks, and making sure this virus does not get away from us,” Andrews told reporters. “If it does, our health system will simply be overrun and people will die.”
Since March 28, Victoria Police have issued over 900 fines and over 19,000 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services. On the spot fines, including up to A$1,652 ($1,058) for individuals and up to A$9,913 ($6,347) for businesses, can be issued by police to those who don’t adhere to these measures.
Despite no new cases reported for the state of Victoria, Andrews said there is no time for complacency.
“There are positive signs our efforts are working—but if we relax now, our hard-won gains will evaporate and people will die,” Andrews said.
Premier Vows Not Repeat Ruby Princess Incident
Around 70 percent of the Australian and New Zealand passengers who touched down in Melbourne on April 12 after being repatriated from overseas have been diagnosed with the CCP virus, reported The Australian.While one was taken to hospital for treatment, the returning passengers will all be quarantined in their respective countries.
“It is likely the new cases we will see over the next week will be returned travellers. We have had a charter flight coming in this morning from a cruise ship with lots of positive people,” Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said.
“These people were tested and known to be positive, and none of these people have been let into the community,” Andrews said.
“We are aggressively tracing our outbreaks, and making sure this virus does not get away from us.”
More than 280,000 Australians have returned home in recent weeks, with about 6,200 of them disembarking from 45 cruise ships around the world.
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