But he stressed that there would be a slow road out of restrictions and Victorians would have to wait until Sunday to hear the definitive plan.
"I know it's frustrating,I know it's difficult,we absolutely understand that. There's no question about the difficulty these rules are causing,"he said.
"This has got to be done in a safe and steady way. I know everyone wants to open up tomorrow but if we do that these numbers will explode.
"“We will,on Sunday,give people a clear road map with as much detail and as much certainty as we can possibly provide."
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Stage four restrictions – which include an overnight curfew,a five-kilometre limit on travel for non-essential workers and one hour of exercise outside the home each day – have been in place in metropolitan Melbourne since August 2,while the rest of the state is under stage three rules.
Soon after the second lockdown began,there wasa 22 per cent surge in calls to Lifeline in Victoria,while Beyond Blue reported a doubling of demand for support services.
Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman said that early in the pandemic people reported feelings of worry,uncertainty or being overwhelmed,while more recently they were showing signs of exhaustion and fatigue.
Psychologist and director of Melbourne's Nexus Psychology Dori Kabillo said two more weeks of lockdown could have a detrimental effect on Victorians'mental health.
"Clear leadership and clear guidelines with as much warning as possible is going to be most useful to people,"she said.
"The more time that you have to prepare the better you are at coping with change."
She said it was important for people to know that mental health help was available,no matter what the government announced.
The state government unveiled a $59.4 million support package for the mental health sector in April with $59.7 million in additional funding announced in early August.
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Professor Stephen Duckett,the head of health economics at the Grattan Institute,said uncertainty was one of the key issues for the government to address.
But he said the pressures of restrictions could not easily be disentangled from the stress of the wider pandemic.
"When people say extending lockdown might create more mental health issues – it may and it may not,"he said.
"It may create mental health issues if people feel like they might go out and contract the virus."