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In two key ways, the challenge Victoria is facing with its current outbreak is very different from last year's second wave.
The first is that it's the Delta variant that is circulating, and the second is that for various reasons it's mostly young people who are catching, and spreading, the virus.
At yesterday's press conference, Premier Daniel Andrews expressed frustration that there were numerous examples showing young people were delaying getting tested for COVID-19, leading to more spread.
ABC News: Danielle Bonica
)“We can’t change that now, but I just appeal to them with a real sense of urgency and purpose,” he said.
Whether or not young people are seeing or hearing that appeal from the Premier is a crucial question.
Victoria should use 'icon' Brett Sutton
When asked on Thursday, Mr Andrews said he wasn't sure whether Victoria would follow in the footsteps of NSW in its approach to engaging young people on social media.
Of the 596 active, locally acquired cases in Victoria, more than 470 of those people are aged under 40.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has maintained a presence on social media platform TikTok, which has remained hugely popular throughout the pandemic.
AAP: Luis Ascui
)She has spoken to influencers on the app as well as participating in live streamed question and answer sessions.
Mr Andrews didn't confirm that Victoria would follow suit to tap into a younger demographic but he said he was sure, "we'll use whatever platform we can to get to everyone we need to get to".
University of Melbourne's Denis Muller, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Advancing Journalism, said it would be "astonishing" if the Victorian government wasn't already using "every social media platform known to man" to reach young people.
He said it would be wise to harness the existing popularity of Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, to engage with younger generations.
ABC News
)Dr Muller described Professor Sutton as "a kind of icon".
"He is a heaven-sent sort of character to use for social media," he said.
"He's personable, he's intelligent, he's articulate, he's got a reputation. There are Brett Sutton t-shirts and Brett Sutton mugs.
Supplied: Facebook
)"He's got other things to do but he's absolutely the right person for the job."
Mr Andrews has a TikTok account, but he hasn't been hugely active on there throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
But he has a frequently active presence on Facebook, Twitter, and to a lesser degree, Instagram.
On Thursday, within a few hours of the press conference, Mr Andrews shared a screenshot of banter he had on Facebook with a young man encouraging him to get vaccinated.
Dr Muller said the government would be wise to take advantage of social media and meme culture.
"You've got to talk to young people in that idiom, you can't just preach at them from a lectern," he said.
Are the daily pressers working?
For a lot of people, the daily rhythm of life during periods of lockdown in Victoria has been shaped by the daily press conferences that are held.
Dr Muller said he believed there were two key reasons that format had developed, and neither were to do with reaching young people.
ABC News: Billy Draper
)He said he believed the government had begun holding the often lengthy press conferences at the start of the pandemic as a political strategy to convey accountability.
"Secondly, I think there's become an expectation on the part of the Victorian community that the Premier will step up and these press conferences will be, in a sense, the gospel of the day," he said.
Dr Muller said although the daily briefings had value, many people did not engage with them, partly because they sometimes "went on forever" and could be "excruciatingly dull".
Do we need another 'get on the beers' moment?
In 2020, a snippet from one of Victoria's many coronavirus press conferences blew up.
The Premier, addressing whether it was or was not yet the time to "get on the beers", was incorporated into an anthem by musical duo Mashd N Kutcher, and it wound up on this summer's Triple J Hottest 100 list.
The now iconic phrase was a throwaway remark in the moment it was uttered, but it ended up being a key part of the lexicon of Victoria's 2020 pandemic experience, and importantly, the way it evolved engaged young people.
ABC News: Will Ockenden
)Dr Muller said the way it took off was "really a lucky fluke", but health officials would be wise to try to emulate it in getting other messages out to a younger demographic.
"You can see when there is a catchy, idiomatic line, it can take off and that's what I think is one of the geniuses of social media — the inventiveness of people," he said.
"Rather than relying on po-faced, solemn lecturing sort of stuff, which is the sort of standard stuff you get out of government, they need to be a lot more creative."
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