Australia blames Melbourne Covid spike on sports fans gathering illegally

‘Many of these cases were completely avoidable,’ authorities say

An aerial view of a Melbourne road under lockdown as cases increase in the city despite restrictions (Getty Images)

Australia’s Covid cases are seeing a surge of new infections reported from Melbourne as officials say people flouting rules to gather and watch a popular sporting event are to be blamed for the spike.

The country is seeing its worst Covid outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic this month and has been posting over 1,700 cases this week, with New South Wales and Victoria provinces worst hit.

On Thursday, Victoria’s capital city Melbourne posted a record increase in new Covid cases — nearly one-third of the state’s 1,438 new infections.

State authorities have said the new infections were “avoidable” and called the 50 per cent increase in cases from Wednesday despite a lockdown a “major setback”.

“Many of these cases were completely avoidable ... I’m not trying to blame anyone, I’m simply trying to explain because a lot of people will be scratching their heads - how could it have gone up by so much, so fast,” state Premier Daniel Andrews said during a media briefing.

Melbourne, traditionally a football-obsessed city, saw sports fans gather inside their houses over the weekend to watch the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL) on TV - a major event on the Australian sporting calendar. The match itself took place in Perth, Western Australia.

Jeroen Weimar, commander of Victoria’s Covid-19 response, said time would tell whether the infection jump was “one big rogue day” or part of a grave new trend.

“Today highlights the consequence of hundreds of people dropping their guards, dropping their guard for very understandable reasons and we’re all fed up with it,” Mr Weimar said, referring to Melbourne’s lockdown.

“But this is a direct consequence of hundreds of decisions made on Friday and Saturday last week and the question now is how we manage this going forward,” he added.

Australia’s Covid affected state Victoria has been under lockdown for the last two months, however, that hasn’t been successful in curbing the infections. Half of the state’s population above 16 have received their first dose, below the national average of 53 per cent.

Additional reporting by agencies