By Brendan Rees
Casey now has 35 confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the state’s tally to 1085 overnight – as of Friday 3 April.
The confirmed cases across Victoria includes babies to people in their early nineties.
A man in his eighties died in hospital on Thursday 2 April – taking the number of people who have died in Victoria from coronavirus to seven.
The state’s tally has risen by 49 cases since Thursday 2 April, according to the data released by the Department of Health and Human Services.
There are 62 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Victoria that may have been acquired through community transmission. More than 51,000 tests have been conducted to date.
Currently 37 people are in hospital – including seven patients in intensive care – and 476 people have recovered.
Of the total 1,085 cases, there have been 866 in Melbourne and 205 in regional Victoria. A number of cases remain under investigation.
In nearby local government areas, Greater Dandenong had six confirmed cases of the virus while Cardinia had recorded nine cases.
A further breakdown of cases showed Stonnington local government area had 84 confirmed cases – the highest number in the state – which included suburbs such as Toorak and South Yarra.
Police have strong powers to enforce new coronavirus laws – with Victoria Police announcing it had conducted a total of 11,834 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services across the state as part of Operation Sentinel.
Sixteen fines have been issued in the past 24 hours as of Friday 3 April – bringing the total number of fines to 39.
“We are getting a significant amount of public information about people who aren’t complying,” Victoria Police deputy commissioner Shane Patton said.
On 30 March, staff at a Fitzroy bar were handed an on-the-spot fine of $9913 for ignoring social distancing rules.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton stressed the importance for Victorians to get a flu vaccine ahead of the coming influenza season.
“Influenza is a serious illness that kills many Victorians each year. With Covid-19 now also circulating in the state, a widespread influenza outbreak would be a devastating double-whammy for our health services to cope with,” he said.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there are four reasons for Victorians to leave their home: food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise, and work or education.
The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has a hotline for public information on Covid-19, which is 1800 675 398.
