A BREAKDOWN of local active COVID-19 cases by postcode has been released.
Coronavirus statistics provided by the Department of Health and Human Services had previously only sorted active cases by local government municipality. New data released last week separated those cases into postcodes.
As of 31 July, the postcode 3196 is the largest COVID-19 hotspot in the Kingston municipality. There were 18 active cases.
Chelsea, Chelsea Heights, Edithvale, and Bonbeach fall under the 3196 postcode.
There were 11 active cases in the postcode 3195, which encompasses Mordialloc, Parkdale, Aspendale, Aspendale Gardens, and Waterways.
Cheltenham had 10 active cases and Mentone had two.
As of 3 August there are 67 confirmed active COVID-19 cases within the Kingston municipality. There have been 128 total cases recorded among local residents since the start of the pandemic.
All Kingston residents will be subject to the new lockdown rules in place across the metropolitan Melbourne region.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced a range of new “stage four” restrictions on Sunday, 2 August, in a bid to stop the rapid growth of COVID-19 cases statewide.
New rules introduced include a restriction on travelling further than 5kms from your home for shopping or exercise, a return to offsite learning for VCE students, and a curfew from 8pm – 5am.
Changes to workplace restrictions were announced on Monday 3 August. Retail stores will shut their doors from midnight on Wednesday, but supermarkets, pharmacies, and petrol stations will continue to operate. Changes to construction sites and abattoirs were also announced.
The new restrictions are expected to run for at least six weeks.
“The current rate of community transmission, mystery cases that cannot be traced back to work or home, is far too high,” Mr Andrews said.
“As they tell us based on the current numbers, cases might begin to drop off not in days or weeks, but in months. Months more of lockdown restrictions. Months more of 300, 400, 500 cases a day. More Victorians in hospital beds. More Victorians hooked up to machines just to breathe. And more Victorians, more grandparents, parents, sons, daughters, partners and loved ones, choked to death by an invisible enemy.
“That’s not something I’m willing to accept. I don’t think it’s something any of us are willing to accept. We must do more. We must go harder. It’s the only way we’ll get to the other side of this.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 5 August 2020
