Health authorities will be hopeful Victoria’s new lockdown has come in time to control the current coronavirus outbreak after only five new cases were revealed on Saturday.
But despite the positive signs amidst a record testing blitz, there remain hundreds of exposure sites visited by positive COVID cases that have contact tracers on edge.
The current outbreak has grown to 35 cases, which have all been linked to the City of Whittlesea and Port Melbourne Workplace outbreaks.
While the case load has not exploded, the list of exposure sites just keeps growing, with contact tracers spending the weekend urgently trying to reach people who have crossed paths with confirmed new cases.
There are more than 3000 primary close contacts, of which 63 per cent had already tested negative to COVID-19 as of Saturday morning.
The most concerning of the new cases is a delivery driver who visited several small food and grocery stores across Melbourne whilst infectious, leading to more than a dozen exposure sites.
“All have been contacted, all have been closed down, and testing is well underway for all of those sites,” Health Minister Martin Foley said.
Mr Foley said it was too early to say whether the lockdown would lift on Friday as planned.
“If we’re going to crush this thing in seven days, we all need to do the right thing,” Mr Weimar said.
Anti-lockdown protesters halted
Hundreds had tried to gather at the Flagstaff Gardens park but were stopped by police.
Fourteen people were arrested and 55 were issued fines.
Two police officers were injured as tempers flared.
Some demonstrators did try to march but they only got as far as the Queen Victoria Market.
One woman was caught breathing heavily on the media. She laughed, ran off, and was then arrested.
Victoria Police said there would be a high police presence across the CBD, on roads, and across the public transport network throughout the lockdown, with a zero-tolerance approach towards those caught deliberately breaking the rules.