Australia’s second biggest state, Victoria will continue its lockdown for at least another seven days.

Victoria’s Acting Premier, James Merlino, confirmed that current restrictions will remain in place for the next seven days for Metropolitan Melbourne.

However, restrictions in regional Victoria will ease from Friday, the date lockdown was initially meant to end for the entire state.

“On the advice of the Chief Health Officer Professor Sutton the current restrictions remain in place for Melbourne for a further seven days with some small changes,” Merlino said.

It comes as a growing cluster of coronavirus cases balloons to over 60, with over 350 exposure sites.

It’s believed the COVID cluster is from the Indian variant which escaped hotel quarantine in South Australia weeks earlier.

Business support packages announced

Victoria is requesting JobKeeper-style support from the federal government.

The State Government will increase its business support packages from $2,500 to $5,000, with an additional $209 million support package.

He “hoped” the federal government would “step up” and the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, says the ‘government must take responsibility’

O’Neil says government officials should be working day and night like the state’s essential workers.

“They’re not stopping, but the government seems to be asleep at the wheel,” she says.

“We’re 16 months into a pandemic, and not put in place fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities… is a disgrace.”

O’Neil says the easiest thing the government can do to support Victorians is re-instate JobKeeper “with the level it was last year” for individuals who were out of work. That payment was $1500 a fortnight.

However, she adds that the financial support also needs to be extended to people who were not eligible last year for JobKeeper payments.

“If this lockdown continues indefinitely, It’s going to break this state”

Victoria’s State Opposition leader, Michael O’Brien spoke to tickerNEWS before the lockdown was officially announced on Tuesday afternoon.

He called for an end to state-wide lockdown, and says the state government is playing the “blame game”

“The federal Gov’t will reconsider its position” Vic Opposition Leader @michaelobrienmp says he speaks with Aus treasurer @JoshFrydenberg regularly and has ‘no doubt’ he will consider federal assistance for Victorians.

O’Brien says “the point is, we have an issue to deal with now” and “probably” could have done better on both a state and federal level in terms of the state’s vaccine rollout.

Covid cases reported in neighbouring state of NSW

Victorian health officials have now alerted their counterparts in NSW that positive cases have crossed the border.

The Treasury Secretary is warning of “downside risks” to the budget’s upbeat projections due to the lockdown.

Many casual workers have been stood down without pay or federal government support, other than unemployment benefits.