Second Australian dies from coronavirus in 24 hours
A second Australian has died from coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos tweeted on Monday afternoon a man in his 60s died in hospital on Monday morning.
Earlier, it was confirmed a man in his 90s also died in Victoria from coronavirus on Sunday.
“My thoughts are with their families. Please stay safe,” Ms Mikakos tweeted.
A further 127 cases were announced on Monday by Premier Daniel Andrews.
In total, the state now has 22 COVID-19 deaths.
Mr Andrews called the latest increase “concerning”.
“This could not be more serious. I'm not telling people what to do, I'm asking work with me and my team and we will get this back under control and we will be able to resume our easing, our opening up,” he said.
Borders set to close
Victoria’s borders with NSW will close from Tuesday 11.59pm.
The decision was made after discussions between the state’s premiers as well as Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Mr Andrews said closing the border would help contain the spread of the virus.
“This is one of those precautionary measures,” he said.
“And what it means, for instance, is that many staff who are currently being employed or deployed to take temperatures, to do all sorts of coordination work, whether it be at our airports or at train stations, for instance, will no longer have to do that work and can potentially be redeployed into arguably much more important roles.”
Public housing in lockdown
On Saturday, Victoria locked down 3000 residents living in nine public housing towers in Melbourne.
The thousands of people living in the towers will be restricted from leaving their home for any reason for at least five days, Mr Andrews announced on Saturday.
Every single person will be tested for COVID-19 throughout the next five days, which if required, will be extended.
The “high density” towers, in Flemington and North Melbourne, are home to “some of the most vulnerable people in the community”, and comprise of a total of 1345 units.
The addresses of four towers in Flemington were revealed, including 12 Holland Court, and numbers 120, 126, and 130 on Racecourse Road.
In North Melbourne, five addresses were listed, including 12 Sutton Street, 33 Alfred Street, 76 Canning Street, 159 Melrose Street, and 9 Pampas Street.
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