Rolling coverage: Melburnians urged to dob in rule breakers; five cases, three deaths recorded
Three shops in Melbourne’s southeast have been identified as high-risk locations for coronavirus infections. Meanwhile, police have urged Melburnians to dob in their rule-breaking neighbours, as a new $5000 fine comes into effect for illegal gatherings.
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The five new coronavirus cases recorded today are linked to three aged care homes and health services.
One case has been linked to Kalyna Aged Care Facility in Delahey, one to Opal Hobsons Bay and one to Embracia Moonee Valley, while a further two cases have been linked to health services.
The five cases have been identified in the Brimbank, Casey, Glen Eira, Moonee Valley and Wyndham local government areas.
Three deaths were also recorded, with the DHHS confirming two of those deaths occurred prior to yesterday.
MELBURNIANS URGED TO DOB IN RULE BREAKERS
Melburnians are being urged to dob in their disobedient neighbours if they suspect they are hosting illegal parties or family gatherings.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said he hoped the new “significant” $5000 fine would deter Victorians from doing the wrong thing.
“If we see heaps of cars and we’re getting noise reports, we absolutely will be knocking on the door making sure people are compliant,” Mr Patton told 3AW.
“We are urging the public to ring the Police Assistance Line and we will be attending to those gatherings, investigating each of them.”
He said tip-offs from the public had led to police shutting down several parties over the weekend, including one at Hoppers Crossing where around 40 revellers had gathered.
“Some of them did a runner when we got there, but we ended up giving 15 fines for breaches of the CHO directions,” Mr Patton said.
In addition, six city Airbnb parties were shut down by police over the weekend.
Mr Patton said the $4957 fine was an enhanced amount from the previous $1652 fine and discretion would only be applied in “extreme” circumstances.
“This is a significant penalty, that is clearly obvious,” he said.
“We will be issuing fines to anyone who breaches those public or private gatherings — it is as simple as that. The risk of coronavirus spread from private gatherings is significant. Thus, we will be issuing those fines.
“The use of discretion will only be in the most extreme circumstance and very rarely applied.”
And with warm weather of up to 27C forecast for the coming weekend, Mr Patton said police would be out in force.
“We will be out and we will be enforcing,” Mr Patton said.
“You can expect a strong police presence and a very quick response from the police.”
He said revellers booking short-term rental property to host parties were a “totally blatant breach” of the rules.
“The ignorance and selfishness is unfathomable,” Mr Patton said.
“It defies logic, it is incredibly frustrating. At $5000 a throw, you need to seriously consider if it is worth going to a party for $5000.”
NEW HOT SPOTS; FIVE CASES, TWO DEATHS OVERNIGHT
More shops have been added to the list of high-risk locations, including two Springvale supermarkets.
The Woolworths and Continental Mart in Springvale are among the locations, including the Dan Murphy’s store in Doveton.
Just five new cases of coronavirus cases have been recorded in Victoria overnight.
But three more deaths were recorded, taking the death toll to 787.
The latest fatalities include a man in his 60s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s — all linked to aged care.
Monday’s tally brings metropolitan Melbourne’s rolling 14-day average down to 20.3, with 31 mystery cases over the past fortnight.
The daily increase is the lowest since four cases were recorded on June 12. A single-figure daily tally has not been seen in Victoria since nine cases were recorded on June 16.
Regional Victoria’s rolling average remains steady at 0.6.
But testing numbers dipped over the weekend, with 6807 tests received on Sunday.
Premier Daniel Andrews urged people to get tested and pre-empted changes to testing that would be announced later this week.
“Not only case numbers will hold us back from taking safe and steady steps from the COVID-normal to continue opening up as we outlined yesterday,” he said.
“But what could be a challenge for us is if we don’t see people coming forward and getting tested.
“And if we start to have doubts about whether we’ve got the most complete picture, that can be a real challenge.”
Head of testing Jeroen Weimar said one in 40 Victorians was tested in the past two weeks, with 164,000 presenting after experiencing symptoms.
In metropolitan Melbourne, 387 tests came back negative for every single positive found. In regional Victoria, just one positive case was found in every 2500 tests.
During the height of the Casey outbreak, 16,000 locals were tested — an increase of 50 per cent in those areas.
“We’ve been able to get to grips with that outbreak of 44 cases across eight different households really quickly. It hasn’t spread beyond those households,” Mr Weimar said, describing each test as “gold”.
Currently, there are 359 active cases of COVID-19 across the state, including 182 in aged-care and four in disability care.
There are also nine active cases in regional Victoria.
Meanwhile, 49 people are in hospital, with eight in intensive care, including four on a ventilator.
Mr Andrews praised Victorians and paid tribute to their sacrifices during the second wave.
“Today’s numbers are proof positive, beyond any doubt, that this strategy is working,” he said.
“This is the lowest daily case number for a very long time and it’s not so long ago that we were reporting not five cases, but 725 cases.
“We’ve come a long way. Victorians have given a lot. They have sacrificed a lot.”
DOZENS FINED, SHOPS OPEN FOR LONGER
More than 50 Melburnians were fined for breaking curfew on the final night of the lockdown measure.
Victoria Police issued 175 fines in the past 24 hours for breaching restrictions — 55 of which were for flouting curfew.
A further 23 people were fined for not wearing a face covering, while 13 penalty notices were handed out at vehicle checkpoints.
Among the latest batch of rulebreakers were four men travelling from Melbourne to Geelong on a sportswear shopping trip and six people drinking in a CBD apartment.
Other rule breakers over the weekend included a group of adults on the Surf Coast who hired a jumping castle.
Top cop Shane Patton said police still had “adequate powers” to enforce the coronavirus rules despite the end of the curfew.
Mr Patton revealed he did not have “any input” to the curfew, or its removal.
“With the curfew being lifted we will obviously see more movement (across Melbourne),” he said.
“We don’t want to harass anyone, but we have an obligation to understand why people are out and about. More importantly people have a moral obligation to do the right thing.”
Meanwhile, the city’s major supermarkets will trade until 10pm after the city’s controversial curfew was lifted.
Coles and Woolworths confirmed that both would remain open later after Melbourne’s curfew was scrapped at 5am on Monday.
Coles said: “From today, our stores in Victoria will be open until 10pm, where possible, which will give our customers more flexibility in the times they can shop.”
CITY ON TRACK TO REOPEN BEFORE GRAND FINAL DAY
Melbourne is on track to be reopened by October 19, in time to celebrate the AFL Grand Final.
Extensive new modelling shows Melburnians are well ahead of projections for overcoming Victoria’s second coronavirus wave, with the citywide lockdown expected to be lifted a week earlier than previously forecast.
Mr Andrews on Sunday confirmed Melbourne was tracking to open by October 19, which would allow people to gather in limited numbers to watch the October 24 Grand Final in outdoor settings at pubs and restaurants.
“In the modelling, we think that between broadly 12-17 October we will meet our targets,” Mr Andrews said.
“However, as I said, many, many times, actuals always prompt the assumptions in any model. One event can change that.
“It’s three weeks. If we stay the course, if we deal with, if we take what has been safely given today, nothing that’s been done today or announced is unsafe.”
Despite vastly improving projections under the latest modelling, health officials would need at least three weeks to assess the impact of the partial easing of restrictions announced on Sunday.
To take the next step and end the lockdown, Melbourne must reach a rolling 14-day average of fewer than five new cases and fewer than five “mystery” cases over a fortnight.
New modelling released by the Department of Health and Human Services revealed its internal calculations placed Melbourne’s Reff number at .69 last week, while Doherty Institute modelling placed the Reff at .75 — both are ahead of schedule and would allow restrictions to ease if maintained.
The all important Reff number is the rate at which coronavirus is considered to be spreading and any number below one signals the virus retreating.
While those rates would allow opening in time for the Grand Final weekend, Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng called for vigilance and warned that a superspreading, such as the recent Casey cluster, could easily knock the city off course.
Professor Cheng said there was “wiggle room” in the five-daily-case average, particularly if most new cases were in settings such as aged care homes or hotel quarantine.
“Victorians have demonstrated themselves to be pretty good at this, so they understand what it means not to want to do this all again,” Professor Cheng said.
The need to maintain restrictions has been reinforced by modelling by the Burnett Institute, which showed easing the lockdown immediately — by opening up bars, clubs, workplaces and public gatherings — would come with a 41 per cent chance of a third coronavirus wave sweeping through Melbourne within four weeks.
Vice-president of the AFL Fans Association Cheryl Critchley said footy fans were excited by the prospect of watching the Grand Final outside with friends and family on October 24.
“Fans are so rapt that they might have the option to watch the final in groups,” Ms Critchley said. “It’s a tradition in Melbourne for fans to gather no matter where they are to watch the final, so I would say it’s a big win for them if the restrictions do ease.”
Ms Critchley said fans may have to get creative with their outside viewing options, but is sure they will find a way to adapt to watching the Grand Final in a way they never have before.
“If you have a small group you could watch on an iPad or phone,” she said.
“It may be a bit hard to organise the logistics of it however.”
HOSPO ANGER AS SMALL BUSINESSES LEFT BEHIND
About 127,000 more Victorians will be allowed to go back to work under eased restrictions, but the metro hospitality industry has received scant hope for a quick return to dining.
Angry industry representatives have submitted a revised safe operating plan to the state government demanding that restaurants, cafes and pubs be able to reopen in Melbourne from October 19.
And a key business lobby group has slammed the “draconian” state government for continuing to lock down small businesses for at least three weeks despite low coronavirus case numbers.
Under the step two plan announced by Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday, supermarkets and food distribution centres will return to full capacity, while worker limits will also increase for abattoirs, and seafood and meat processing plants.
Manufacturing can return with up to 90 per cent of its workforce, and sole traders doing gardening and landscaping can resume.
Many of the 127,000 extra workers returning will be from the unionised construction industry, with big sites allowed up to 85 per cent of the normal workforce, and eased restrictions for workers on small projects and at land developments.
RESTRICTIONS Q&A: WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO
Master Builders Assocation of Victoria CEO Rebecca Casson welcomed the changes, but added that there were still areas of the industry not able to go back to work.
“We will continue to advocate for changes on restrictions related to renovations at inhabited dwellings, including those that work outdoors and can abide by all safety protocols featured in the COVID-19 road map,” she said.
Small Business Association executive director Bill Lang said the government was using draconian measures to destroy the lives of 1.4 million business owners “because we cannot contain the 200 or so people who have been asked to self-isolate with the virus”.
“It is time that serious questions are asked why Melbourne, despite case numbers falling to the teens, remains closed for business when we have seen NSW successfully reduce similar numbers to zero today through their contact and trace management,” he said.
Mr Andrews infuriated hospitality venues by offering no concessions.
“We want them back as close to normal as possible as soon as we possibly can. But the wicked nature of this thing (the virus) is, you’ve got that latency, that period where you just have to wait,” he said.
The only hope the Premier gave was that Melbourne venues might at some stage be allowed to have indoor dining with limited patron numbers as applies now to regional Victoria.
“That’s exactly what we’ll do … if we can make a judgment that that is safe,” he said.
But multiple restaurant owner Chris Lucas, who is leading an industry push against the government’s plan, said indoor dining must reopen sooner rather than later.
“There’s no reason whatsoever that the restaurant industry that’s proven itself to be professional and safe, with not one single case since the pandemic began, shouldn’t be able to reopen,” he said.
Mr Lucas said the industry had given a revised safer operating plan to the government with a demand that indoor dining be allowed from October 19.
“The anger is palpable that nearly 280,000 young hospitality workers continue to suffer mental anguish and loss of income based on the whims of our Premier,” he said.
The Australian Hotels Association wants patron limits for country pubs to be lifted from 10 to 20 people per enclosed space.
FACE SHIELDS NO LONGER ADEQUATE
Strict new mask rules will take effect in Victoria after face shields were ruled inadequate in the fight to stop COVID-19.
Daniel Andrews announced Victorians must cover their mouth and nose from today (Mon) or face a $200 fine, with a two week grace period before police begin enforcing the mandate.
“Face shields don’t meet the test of covering your nose and your mouth,” the Premier said.
“You can wear a face shield if you want to in terms of your eyes, but it would need to be accompanied by a mask and we would recommend a two-ply mask.
“A shield is akin to not wearing a face covering … we will give people the opportunity to transition.”
Face coverings were made mandatory across Melbourne and the Mitchell shire on July 19.
Mr Andrews said there was no planned end date to the updated rule, acknowledging it would become harder for people as the mercury continued to rise.
“Getting into the warmer months, [there is a] degree of discomfort associated with them as it potentially gets hotter,” Mr Andrews said.
But he said the benefits were “really clear … and they are not going anytime soon”.
INSIDE THE PLAN TO GET KIDS BACK IN SCHOOLS
Primary school students will return to Melbourne classrooms in a fortnight, however the majority of high school pupils face further weeks of remote learning.
Melbourne parents are also celebrating as childcare centres are reopened to all children from today.
Students from prep to grade six, as well as those attending special schools and studying VCE or VCAL will return to at least some days of on-site learning from October 12.
The moves follows new Murdoch Children’s Research Institute findings that young children are less infectious than previously believed, while Victorian schools have rarely driven COVID-19 outbreaks.
Read the full story here.
LABOR MPS SLAM ANDREWS OVER MIKAKOS’ RESIGNATION
Labor MPs have been left “unsettled” by the sudden departure and treatment of Victoria’s former Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, with some “disgusted” by her cold treatment at the hands of Daniel Andrews.
Government MPs have told the Herald Sun they were left shell shocked by Ms Mikakos’ resignation with some lashing out at the Premier for not standing by his loyal minister.
“It has put a lot of people on edge,” one government Minister said.
Read the full story here.
— Additional reporting: Grant McArthur and John Masanauskas
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