New Cafe Restrictions in Sydney as Melbourne Virus Cases Spike
Australia’s Victoria Sees Second Day of Record Coronavirus Cases
(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s most populous state is reimposing restrictions on cafes and restaurants in fear of undetected community spread after Melbourne recorded its second consecutive record daily spike.
All indoor hospitality venues will be limited to bookings of a maximum 10 people and restricted to 1 person per four-square-meters from July 24, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. Weddings and other functions will also be limited to 150 guests who must remain seated and not sing, dance or mingle, she told reporters Friday.
“We remain in a state of high alert, we remain concerned about the underlying community transmission that could be bubbling away,” she said. “We have to assume there’s a level of community transmission and these measures will reduce the risk of that community transmission getting out of control.”
While the state recorded just eight new cases in the 24-hours to 8pm Thursday, the restrictions are a bid to keep Australia’s largest city out of lockdown amid fears the second wave of infections in Melbourne has now spread to Sydney. A cluster of cases in Sydney’s west earlier this week were linked to a traveler from Melbourne.
Melbourne was placed into lockdown last week after after health authorities identified breaches in hotel quarantine procedures as the catalyst for outbreaks which spread through large families within multicultural communities, triggering a second-wave of infections.
The wave in Victoria state is verging on being out of control after recording 428 new virus cases Friday, the second consecutive record daily spike. It’s pushed the state’s confirmed cases to 5,165, almost half of which were recorded since the movement restrictions were reinstated, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“These numbers are very challenging, we always said it would get worse before it got better,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said. “We have got significant virus and it is spreading across the Victorian community.”
Tighter restrictions in New South Wales would scupper Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s hopes that he would be able to help revive a crippled economy after it tumbled into recession in the first half of the year. Australia’s effective unemployment rate fell to “just over” 11% in June from more than 13% as restrictions were eased Australia’s most populous cities, he told reporters Friday.
“We’re seeing, when we can open up our economy and get things moving again, then we see the jobs come back, and that gives us all hope,” Morrison said. “Our economic performance is bettering our estimates at this point, but there is a long way to go.”
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