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The coronavirus outbreak that prompted Victoria's snap lockdown has been brought "under control", with the state recording zero new cases from nearly 40,000 test results in the past day.
Key points:
- Victoria's lockdown will end at 11:59pm today, but some restrictions will remain in place
- The Premier says yesterday was the "single biggest" day of COVID tests in Victoria
- Authorities are confident the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport outbreak under control
Victoria's five-day "circuit-breaker" lockdown was introduced last Friday night over concerns a cluster that stemmed from the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel at Melbourne Airport was spreading faster than previous outbreaks.
Today Premier Daniel Andrews announced the lockdown would end at 11:59pm, but said some restrictions would remain in place until at least next Friday.
Authorities received 39,258 COVID-19 test results on Tuesday, which Mr Andrews said could be the "biggest single day of testing" in Victoria since the pandemic began.
No new coronavirus cases were detected in the community or in hotel quarantine.
About 224,000 people got tested throughout the Holiday Inn outbreak, including 130,000 people in the past five days, COVID testing commander Jeroen Weimar said.
There are also 3,400 people isolating after being identified as close contacts.
"[That's] what's enabling us to be confident that we have this outbreak under control and to release the restrictions," Mr Weimar said.
LoadingMr Weimar said the "phenomenal" testing numbers also helped authorities feel confident they had a good idea of how the virus had progressed in the community.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said recording no new cases was a good result, but warned the outbreak was not over yet.
"Everyone loves a day of zeros, but the incubation period is 14 days," he said.
"There are literally thousands of people who have potentially been exposed to infectious cases."
Professor Sutton urged close contacts not be complacent if they tested negative early on, as there was a chance some people could develop the illness in the latter part of their quarantine period.
Mr Andrews said authorities would make further announcements in nine days, at the end of the last positive case's isolation period.
"Next Friday, we'll be able to be even more definitive about the epidemiological picture across the state, the status of the virus across the state, and revert to almost all of the COVID-safe summer settings," he said.
Close contacts to remain in isolation for another nine days
All recent locally acquired coronavirus infections have been linked to the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport cluster.
Nineteen cases in total have been linked to the outbreak, which authorities believe started with a family who returned overseas.
Some returned travellers and hotel quarantine workers who had been on the same floor also contracted the virus, with the virus then spreading to household and social contacts in the community.
All cases in the outbreak were infected with the B117 variant that originated in the UK. It raised concerns among health authorities the virus could spread fast if not contained quickly.
Mr Weimar said 59 household primary close contacts connected to the Holiday Inn outbreak were "isolating and secure".
No new household contacts had been identified since yesterday, he said.
He said 1,312 primary close contacts linked to exposure sites would be isolating for the next nine days.
In total, there are 3,400 primary close contacts in isolation, including a number of people who visited Terminal 4 at Melbourne Airport during a possible exposure period, he said.
"Over the coming days as we get to Friday next week we will continue our program of checking in with these people, ensuring they are getting their day 11 tests, and in some cases they get their day 14 tests," he said.