Several epidemiologists have argued language being used by the Victorian government surrounding the infectiousness of the Kappa Indian variant of COVID-19 is inducing an unwarranted level of fear.
Victoria Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton has claimed the variant is more infectious and has been spreading quicker than variants the state has previously experienced.
Professor Sutton said the current lockdown had been extended to contain the “more concerning, more contagious variant” but this claim has been disputed.
Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said, “the numbers we’ve seen so far don’t suggest that this is behaving as a virus hugely different to what we’ve seen before, it’s in the same ballpark”.
When questioned Professor Sutton admitted it was possible the “casual” transmission picked up in the recent outbreak may have been happening during the second wave without being detected by contact tracers.
However, he argued he did
Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for another week after health authorities called for more time to suppress the highly infectious Indian variant.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton says he would “love to see” cases back to zero by the end of the extended seven-day lockdown but restrictions could ease if there are not too many “new or concerning” exposure sites.
This comes after it was announced Melbourne will remain under lockdown for seven more days but restrictions in regional Victoria will likely begin easing from 11:59pm on Thursday.
“Obviously people will be in quarantine as they are identified as new cases now,” Professor Sutton said.
“In large part that's a real rationale for a lockdown, that everyone is at home to the fullest extent that they can be, and therefore if they are incubating this virus and become symptomatic and get tested they have not exposed anyone else.
“Pre-lockdown, each and every one of us has, on average, about 100 close contacts, unique close contacts.
“I would love to see cases driven down to zero by virtue of that, but if the number of exposure
The Australian state of Victoria has recorded four new coronavirus cases, as the state enters its first morning of a seven-day "circuit breaker" lockdown.