https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-04/coronavirus-numbers-victoria-rise-again-lockdown-suburbs/12422456

Victoria recorded its second-highest ever daily increase in coronavirus cases, with 108 people diagnosed with the virus overnight.

Residents of nine public housing estates in inner Melbourne will be required to stay in their homes due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

23 cases had been identified in more than 12 households in the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing estates

the nine towers included 1,345 units of housing and were home to about 3,000 residents.

"No-one will be allowed out of those public housing towers," Mr Andrews said.

I just watched the press conference. This article misses some details.

The residents of these public housing towers will not be allowed to leave their flats/apartments at all, for any reason. They can't even step outside their front doors into the common corridors. The common areas are potential transmission vectors, so these people have to stay inside their flats and not come out at all. And the lockdown starts immediately. Anyone currently inside can't come out. Anyone who comes home can't come back out. (I except some people will decide not to go home).

This is an extreme lockdown, beyond anything done in Australia so far.

Over the next few days, all residents in the towers will be tested for coronavirus. The lockdown is expected to last for at least 5 days, which is how long it's expected to take to test everyone and get the results.

Article: 'See it as your civic duty': Testing blitz to target hotspots as Victoria records 33 new cases

I found this part especially interesting:

Health workers going door-to-door to test residents in these hotspots will be using a new type of saliva test developed by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity that is less invasive, and painful, than nose and throat swabs.

There's a new form of coronavirus testing in Australia.

News article: Victoria will bring back tougher coronavirus restrictions, limiting gatherings in homes to five people, in a bid to address a recent spike in case numbers.

Statement from Victoria's Premier:

• "around half of [Victoria's] cases since the end of April have come from transmission inside someone’s home."

• "From 11:59pm on Sunday, the number of visitors you can have at your home will reduce to five."

• "Outside the home, families and friends can meet in groups up to ten."

• "restaurants, pubs, auction halls, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship will all stay at a maximum of 20 people in any one space until 12 July."

• "Businesses that were set to open on Monday like gyms, cinemas, theatres and TABs can do so – but again, only with a maximum of 20."

• "Community sport for kids and non-contact competition for adults can proceed as planned."

• "those who can work from home [should] continue to do so at least until 31 July."

Article: No coronavirus cases from community transmission in two weeks, NSW Health confirm

Context:

New South Wales has recorded 31 new coronavirus cases in the past 2 weeks, but all these new cases have been in returned international travellers. Returned international travellers are forced to spend 14 days in quarantine (in 5-star hotel rooms) before being let loose on the Australian populace. So, these cases are not contributing to the pandemic in Australia's population.

New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, has achieved zero community transmission. Most other states and territories have already achieved this, or are very close to achieving it.

The worst state in Australia for community transmission is Victoria, which has 1 or 2 cases of community transmission turn up every couple of days.

On another note, there are reportedly 432 active cases of coronavirus infections across Australia (or 450, depending on the source). However, that number of active cases exceeds the total number of new infections recorded across the country for the past month. I believe it's likely that some health departments (notably NSW's) are failing to follow up recovered cases, so that recoveries are understated and active cases are overstated.

Elimination of the coronavirus in Australia was tantalisingly close leading up to the protests last weekend. We're still waiting to see the outcome of those.

Fingers crossed!

Frustratingly (and in keeping with how confusing the messaging has been from the Australian government on all aspects of this pandemic), there is no single easy source that lists these new restrictions in a nice simple format.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/public-gatherings-limited-to-two-people-coronavirus-covid-19/12101162

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/scott-morrison-coronavirus-covid19-two-person-rule-explained/12101212

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/elderly-australians-told-to-self-isolate-at-home-outdoor-gatherings-restricted-to-two-people-20200329-p54f1g.html

• All gatherings, whether indoors or outdoors, are limited to 2 people. Exceptions apply for people you're living with (you're already sharing germs with them). However, previous limits of 5 people for weddings and 10 people for funerals still apply.

• People should only leave the house for necessary activities, such as: shopping for supplies, exercising, medical care, work, school.

• Elderly people should stay home and self-isolate. This applies to: healthy people over 70; unhealthy people over 60; indigenous people over 50. (And if we ever needed evidence that indigenous people have worse health than everyone else, this announcement proves it.)

• Public playgrounds, outside gyms, and skate parks will close.

These rules are all advisory, rather than legal. However, individual states can choose to enforce them legally.

News article: The Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory will proceed to a more comprehensive shutdown of non-essential services over the next 48 hours in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

For non-Australians: New South Wales and Victoria are Australia's two most populous states. Between them, they contain about 60% of the Australian population. They naturally also have the highest number of coronavirus cases.

The Australian Capital Territory is a land-locked region totally surrounded by NSW. It's the home of our capital city, Canberra. It's small in population but, if NSW is clamping down, the ACT pretty much has to follow.