‘We don’t have to go there’: Chief Health Officer optimistic Victoria won’t reach stage four lockdown

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says it’s quite possible that the state will avoid a tougher stage four lockdown, but we’re unlikely to see any immediate easing of restrictions.

Professor Sutton provided 3AW’s Neil Mitchell with a broad timeline for a return to life as usual.

“There’s not going to be a significant change in the next month,” he cautioned.

But the chief health officer says on current trends “there’s no question” lockdown restrictions will be lifted before the end of the year.

Professor Sutton said he believes Victoria can avoid the move to Stage 4 restrictions altogether.

“I remain optimistic that we don’t have to go there, but this is a fragile state we’re in,” he said.

“We don’t know if an explosive cluster might occur.”

Regarding the return to on campus schooling, he couldn’t “rule anything in or out” at this stage.

While Australia has reason to be proud of its response to COVID-19, Professor Sutton warned “we can’t sit on our laurels”.

“We’re in a hugely different place than most of the world,” he said.

“The lesson for me in Australia is that we acted at a time that made a huge difference.”

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