If there is one point that has united most economists during the coronavirus crisis, it is that ending the economic crisis requires fixing the health one. Victoria’s second wave brings this home to devastating effect. The virus, and the restrictions on daily life necessary to keep it under control, have snuffed out the nascent economic recovery in our second most-populous state.

Even before the latest lockdowns, Victoria’s economy had been hit particularly hard by the crisis. The number of jobs in Victoria fell by 7.6 per cent between mid-March and mid-June, the biggest fall of any state or territory.