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Victoria records 19 new COVID-19 cases on day two of lockdown

Victoria has recorded 19 new local COVID-19 cases as the state enters its second day of lockdown.

Health Minister Martin Foley said all cases had been linked to the "two Sydney incursions".

"On average each case has spent less than two infectious days in the community," he said.

"That figure is a vindication of the going hard and going early strategy."

Mr Foley thanked Victorians for the sacrifices they were making.

"This lockdown was needed. We won't be taking any chances by not acting on the information we have," he said.

"We've gone hard and we've gone early to make sure that this lockdown is as short as possible."

A range of new exposure sites have been listed, including a superhero movie screening and a university campus.

There are now 54 active cases in the state.

READ MORE: Popular Marvel movie screening a Tier One exposure site in Victoria

READ MORE: Victoria's 'fleeting transmission' concerns

All the new cases are linked to the current outbreak.

So far, nobody in the current outbreak has been hospitalised.

"There is no such thing as a good infection, but what we are yet to see is any unlinked, unexpected infections," Mr Foley said.

"All of which makes it clear that this lockdown was needed."

About 10,000 close contacts have been identified, along with "many more" secondary contacts, Mr Foley said.

A total of 47,606 people were tested yesterday, along with 19,237 vaccines administered.

Among Victoria's new cases are another MCG patron, who was in the MCC members reserve.

Two of his friends, who recently travelled to Phillip Island, contracted the virus as well.

A social contact of the Trinity Grammar teacher – another MCG case – also has the virus, along with two further Trinity staff members.

Three staff members and a patron of Miss Frankie's restaurant in Cremorne have contracted the virus after a positive case visited the venue.

Southgate in Melbourne on the first day of lockdown.

Another student at St Patrick's Primary School in Murrumbeena, and two staff members and a student from Bacchus Marsh Grammar, have also contracted the virus.

The wife and three daughters of one of the Young and Jacksons cases, along with a household contact of another positive case, brought the total to 19.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton has urged Victorians to keep getting vaccinated – but advised against cutting the wait time between AstraZeneca jabs.

Advisory body ATAGI has said people in hotspot areas could slash the 12-week recommended period between injections to as few as four weeks.

"There is consideration, when you have a significant outbreak, with large numbers with transmission, to have that shorter period of time," Professor Sutton said.

Victoria COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has said while the majority of people entering from red zone areas were complying with the new rules, one arrival at Melbourne Airport had been issued a $5000 fine after trying to "leg it".

Mr Weimar said the person had fled when stopped by authorised officers, but was tracked down in the airport complex on Wednesday night.

There are currently just five essential reasons Victorians are permitted to leave their homes, including work, buying food, care responsibilities, exercise and getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

This is Victoria's fifth major lockdown since the pandemic began, with today's latest infection numbers coming as the state grapples with a growing number of exposure sites.

READ MORE: New school-related cases of COVID-19 in Victoria

The latest outbreak is believed to be a result of three removalists who drove from NSW to South Australia, stopping in Victoria on the way, and a family who moved from Sydney to Melbourne and broke quarantine rules.

Furniture removalists from red zones have now been barred from entering Victoria for at least two weeks.

The current lockdown is set to end at midnight Tuesday, but Mr Andrews has warned it is too early to predict what will happen.

headline

Aussies vaccinated with AstraZeneca face potential European travel hurdles

Australians vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab face potential problems visiting Europe, thanks to a quirk in the European Union's vaccine approval process.

Despite the Aussie-made vaccine being identical to those made in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK, it's not technically authorised in Europe because AstraZeneca hasn't registered CSL's Melbourne facility with the European drugs regulator.

Facilities in the USA, Korea and even China have all been registered but the European Medicines Agency has confirmed the labs pumping out millions of doses in India and Australia haven't been registered.

READ MORE: Restrictions tightened in NSW as 111 new local COVID-19 cases recorded

This has left 5 million Brits and millions of others vaccinated with the Indian-made vaccine, in India and throughout Africa, facing uncertainty.

9News.com.au has confirmed that Australians vaccinated with AstraZeneca are in the same boat.

The EU's COVID-19 certificate allows EU residents to move freely in the 27-nation bloc as long as they have been vaccinated with one of the four shots authorised by the EMA, have a fresh negative test, or have proof they recently recovered from the virus.

But European Commission spokesman for health, food safety and transport Stefan De Keersmaecker said countries were not required to issue certificates for vaccines not authorised on their territory.

"When it comes to the EU Digital Certificate, there are two possible ways of recognising certificates for travellers from abroad," he told 9News.com.au. 

"First, where the national health system allows for it, member states may issue an EU Digital COVID certificate on a case by case basis for persons vaccinated in a third country with a vaccine that has been authorised in the EU or that has been listed by the WHO for emergency use. 

"It is for member states to verify if the holder presents reliable proof of such a vaccination."

READ MORE: Sydney braces for another COVID-19 spike as Berejiklian predicts cases to rise

The second option involves the commission centrally approving another country's vaccine certificate, if technical limitations allow. 

Australian-made AstraZeneca has been approved for WHO emergency use and as many as 15 EU countries have reportedly already decided to recognise the Indian-made jab but France, Italy and Croatia are among the holdouts.

AstraZeneca told 9News it was working with global partners to get more production sites approved by the EMA World Health Organisation and other regulators.

But it wouldn't confirm whether or not that process was underway for the Melbourne lab.

"It should be noted that all AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses meet the same rigorous quality standards no matter where they are made as each batch passes over 60 quality tests as part of our robust quality assurance process," an AstraZeneca spokeswoman said.

The Serum Institute of India told the UK Telegraph it was likely to take weeks to resolve the issue, dealing with countries on an individual level.

With the majority of Australians banned from leaving the country, the red tape is unlikely to affect many travel plans in the near future but may need to be addressed before international travel resumes.

READ MORE: Positive case at Wallabies Test, MCG exposure advice upgraded

Amalfi Coast - Sorrento

The certificate is not the only way to enter and travel within Europe. Negative PCR tests are also accepted and Individual EU countries are free to apply their own rules for travellers from inside and outside the bloc. But their rules vary widely, creating further confusion for tourists. 

Several EU countries, including Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, allow people to enter if they have had non-EU-endorsed vaccines but several others don't.

British couple Steve and Glenda Hardy told The Telegraph they were "gutted" when they were blocked from boarding a flight to Malta to see their son for the first time in more than a year.

It's also worth noting that Australia is one of the few countries in the world from which non-essential travel to the EU is currently freely permitted, thanks to low level of COVID-19, but that status is not guaranteed.

The EMA told 9News.com.au that if AstraZeneca wanted to register the Australian site, it would need to apply for a "variation" to the vaccine's marketing authorisation.

"A variation application includes information on the new site supported by various test results confirming the quality of the vaccine manufactured at the new site and comparing it to the currently authorised vaccine," an EMA spokeswoman said.

– With Associated Press