As it happened: Victoria COVID updates: Seven day state-wide lockdown to begin tonight as state records 12 new local COVID-19 cases

The Victorian COVID-19 update, which went for well over an hour, has ended.

To recap:

• Victoria will go into circuit-breaker lockdown for seven days from 11.59pm after the state recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19
• One patient is now in intensive care and at least 10,000 primary and secondary contacts identified
• There are now five reasons to leave home: care and caregiving, exercise, work and to buy groceries – and now Victorians can also leave to get vaccinated
• Those aged 40 to 49 eligible for the Pfizer vaccine from Friday
• Elective surgery has been suspended
• Schools will move to remote learning
• Childcare and kindergartens will remain open
• Restaurants, pubs and cafes will offer takeaway only
• Sporting venues and pools will close and entertainment venues including Crown casino will shut their doors
• People must wear face masks everywhere outside their own homes

The “devastated” organisers of Melbourne’s RISING festival have vowed to find a way to show audiences the work created for them, despite being forced to shut down the huge winter arts festival barely a day into its 11-day season.

The inaugural RISING, which opened Wednesday evening and was to comprise more than 133 events and projects featuring over 750 Victorian artists, was paused on Thursday from 5pm, with everything cancelled until the end of June 3 in line with the government-imposed lockdown.

“I wish I had other words to describe it, but devastated is mostly the feeling,” said co-artistic director Gideon Obarzanek.

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Belle Property auctioneer Marshall Rushford said COVID-19 failed to halt the sale of 4/95 Tennyson Street in Elwood, the agency fast-tracking the action to 6pm tonight.

Close to 70 people packed the nearby streets in the dark to watch as Mr Rushford sold the property at auction for $653,000.

“We had the auction scheduled for Saturday, but when the news came through we thought, let’s bring it forward,” he said.

“We sent a text blast out and changed our listing on Domain.

“We had half a dozen people bidding.”

Months after the Morrison government nominated the elderly as the priority in Australia’s immunisation rollout, sixteen aged care homes in Victoria have not had any coronavirus vaccine shots.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the government’s aged care vaccination program, saying 97 per cent of homes around Australia had now received at least their first vaccine dose.

But under concerted attack from the federal opposition on Thursday, Mr Hunt acknowledged that 16 of Victoria’s 598 aged care homes had not had any doses delivered to either residents or workers.

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The Victorian Chief Health Officer’s evening update has offered some explanation as to why so many people struggled to speak to anyone when calling the coronavirus hotline today.

The email said 77,000 calls were received in a 15-minute window this morning, but the “significant demand caused a number of technical issues”, which network providers manged to successfully address during the day.

Many of the callers were seeking information on vaccines or trying to book a vaccine appointment.

The statement asaid more resources would be added to increase capacity.