603 new cases; business groups slam Victoria’s roadmap out of lockdown

Victoria is charging ahead in the vaccination race, recording the highest number of jabs in any state on Monday, with 40,811 people rolling up their sleeves.

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An aged care facility in Wantirna South is on high alert after a fully vaccinated worker at the centre tested positive.

In a letter sent to the Arcare Knox community on Monday, chief executive Colin Singh said 94 per cent of residents and 91 per cent of team members had received either one or both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

“All clients and team members are being monitored closely for signs and symptoms,” Mr Singh said in a statement.

It is understood the worker had completed a shift at the centre the day before a positive test was returned.

Authorities are also gravely concerned about an aged care facility in Melbourne’s north, as cases linked to the facility continue to spread.

There are 15 cases linked to Meadow Heights Care Community, including 11 staff and four residents.

About 94 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated and 77 per cent of residents have received both doses.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said unvaccinated residents had been transferred out of the facility.

It comes as Victoria recorded 603 Covid cases overnight, along with one more death, as the state’s virus crisis escalates.

Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed a woman in her 70s from Hume had died with Covid.

There are currently 241 people in hospital with COVID-19. 60 of those are in ICU and 39 on a ventilator.

On Monday, more than 40,800 Victorians turned out for a dose of the Covid vaccine.

Right now, 72.6 per cent of eligible Victorians have received one dose of the jab, while 44.1 per cent are double jabbed.

There are 6000 active cases across the state.

Meanwhile, Victoria delivered more vaccines than any other state on Monday, with 40,811 people turning up for a jab.

Almost three-quarters of Victorian residents have now received one dose, while 44.4 per cent are fully immunised.

“That just goes to show that there is a very strong appetite for Victorians to go out there and get vaccinated,” health minister Martin Foley said.

“They know it’s both the pathway to delivering on our roadmap, but it’s also the pathway to getting to the other side of this pandemic.”

CONSTRUCTION SHUTDOWN A ‘RESET’

Victoria’s construction industry will shut down for two weeks under what the government is labelling a “reset”.

The widespread closure, which starts at midnight on Monday, applies to worksites across Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Mitchell Shire and the Surf Coast.

The state government said the shutdown was needed to cut down movement, reduce transmission and let the industry adapt to new requirements.

It comes after wild scenes erupted outside the CFMEU city office where about 500 protesters turned on the union, furious it had not done more to oppose mandatory vaccine rules to kick in Thursday.

At the Tuesday coronavirus daily press conference, Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas addressed the shutdown, which comes after Covid safety blitz inspections revealed 50 per cent of worksites were not complying with CHO orders.

Mr Pallas said permitted workers had an obligation to follow the rules and not put the community at risk.

“The construction industry must take this opportunity and I’m sure it will take the opportunity to reset and restart the industry,” he said.

“We cannot simply go back to the way things were being conducted.

“Broad scale non-compliance across the industry that was constituting a threat to public health in the most dramatic of terms.”

Industrial relations minister Tim Pallas. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake

All construction sites will be required to demonstrate compliance with the chief health officer’s directions prior to reopening, including showing evidence of vaccination.

Workers must have had one dose of the Covid vaccine before they return to work on October 5.

Mr Pallas said the government was working to provide support for the industry.

“This is going to be a very difficult time for a lot of people,” he said.

“It is a difficult task to close this industry down, to stop its economic activity and it will be an equally challenging time to start it up again and an enormous amount of work will be required to get there.”

Earlier on Tuesday, authorities said health officials were left with “no choice”, as cases continued to spread and violent riots swamped the city.

There are 337 cases linked to construction at 154 Victorian worksites from the period spanning August 5 to Tuesday.

Of those cases, 239 are linked to outbreaks on worksites in metropolitan Melbourne.

Seven construction sites are each linked to five or more cases.

Read the full story here.

WHERE TODAY’S CASES WERE FOUND

• 377 cases in Melbourne’s north, including 242 in Hume, 53 in Whittlesea, 56 in Moreland, 14 in Darebin and 12 in Yarra

• 118 cases in Melbourne’s west, including 47 in Wyndham, 39 in Brimbank, 20 in Melton and 12 in Hobson’s Bay

• 35 cases in the southeastern suburbs, including 11 in Glen Eira, 10 in Casey, six in Kardinia and eight in Port Phillip

• 10 cases in regional Victoria, with three in Mitchell, three in Moorabool, three in Bacchus Marsh and one in Ballarat

INDUSTRY GROUPS SLAM ROADMAP

Key industry groups have hit out at Victoria’s roadmap, saying they were left blindsided by the state’s conservative path out of lockdown.

Industry bodies are demanding greater consultation before any changes to the plan and accused the state government and Department of Health of inadequate engagement.

“They did keep their cards very close to their chest,” Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief Felicia Mariani said. “I don’t know of any industry associations that were actually consulted.”

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Restaurant and Catering Australia each submitted detailed proposals before the roadmap was released on Sunday.

Raylene Murphy’s Kilmore shoe store is closed while the Mitchell Shire undergoes a seven-day lockdown. Picture: David Geraghty

Their proposals were not incorporated into the final plan. Restaurant and Catering chief Wes Lambert said it seemed the government had “completely ignored” its proposal.

“The Victorian government typically performs consultation after information is released rather than before,” he said. “We did have high-level discussions based upon our submission, so we were extremely disappointed that none of our suggestions were incorporated in the final plan.”

A series of business consultation roundtables were held on Monday.

Simon Thewlis, of Save Victorian Events, said the event sector was ignored. “There was no consultation with us,” he said. “Business events which are worth over $12bn a year aren’t even listed as an item in the table of restrictions”.

Mr Thewlis said much of the sector remained in a holding pattern, with critical detail missing from the plan.

Industry groups say the slow road out of lockdown will threaten the viability of businesses even as restrictions start to ease. In particular they said outdoor requirements for retail and strict density limits would make opening up almost impossible.

Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said the lack of consultation with industry groups by the Andrews government had been a feature of the pandemic.

“They have been so focused on the disease that they have not been overly interested in discussing the outcomes of their policies that have led to small business families on the edge both financially and emotionally,” he said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, who will release an alternative roadmap soon, raised concerns about the slow opening. “To simply have a blanket slow opening, when other states like NSW are finding ways to get on with that quicker, is deeply concerning,” he said.

The Premier defended the plan and said it could be fastracked.

“If NSW was all terrific after say three or four weeks, after say we caught up to where they are we would have a really serious discussion,” he said. “But we would sit down and work through all of those things – it’s a dynamic document.”

Melbourne’s Covid cases continue to grow. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

LAG IN EXPOSURE SITES

A series of exposure sites in the Bass Coast region are yet to filter through to the Department of Health website, amid concerns not every Tier 2 site is being tracked.

The local exposure sites – including Bunnings in Wonthaggi, Blue Gum Garden Centre in Newhaven and Van Steensel Timbers in Grantville – were posted on Bass Coast Health’s Facebook page on Saturday.

But the information was still yet to appear on the official exposure site list days later.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar on Monday said health authorities were aware of three positive cases in the Bass Coast region from the same household.

He said there was a “relatively small number” of exposure sites linked to the cases.

“We understand the acquisition source, which is a worksite outside that whole area,” he said.

“I think we’re comfortable with what’s going on there but I’m happy to follow up.”

It comes as Victoria reported 567 new local infections on Monday, it’s highest daily case number this year.

Almost 90 per cent of the cases were detected in Melbourne’s north and western suburbs, with 45 in the southeast, and 12 in the eastern suburbs.

Fourteen cases were found in regional Victoria, including five in Ballarat, three in the Mitchell Shire and one in South Gippsland.

No new cases were detected in the now-locked down Geelong and Surf Coast region, but two were recorded in nearby Moorabool.

Mr Weimar said 56 per cent of Monday’s cases were found within households of known cases.

“That attack rate in households continues to be very strong,” he said.

A woman in her 70s from Moreland died with the virus.

A man walks along the deserted Main Street of Kilmore during lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

QUEENSCLIFFE HITS JAB MILESTONE

Queenscliffe has become the first municipality in Australia to hit the 80 per cent double-dose vaccination target.

And 80 per cent of eligible residents in 31 of the state’s 79 municipalities have now had at least one Covid shot.

As of Monday, Victorian pharmacies began receiving supplies of the Moderna vaccine, providing a third option for those yet to be vaccinated.

More than 300,000 doses are expected to arrive in ­Victoria this month, with 440 pharmacies administering Moderna from this week and another 281 joining the rollout after that.

The mRNA vaccine, which is similar to Pfizer, will be used to inoculate people aged 12 to 59.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday urged Victorians to take whatever vaccine was available to them, as he suggested there could be issues with Pfizer ­deliveries next month.

“I don’t know how big the problem is, but there is an issue with Pfizer vaccine supply in October,” Mr Andrews said. “Don’t wait and defer for some­thing that may not happen … AstraZeneca is available now.”

The Herald Sun believes an issue was raised at Friday’s national cabinet meeting about a flight with Pfizer supplies, but that this was sorted out at the weekend by federal authorities.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australia would receive more mRNA doses in October than September, and that there was no issue with deliveries of Pfizer.

Mr Hunt said every state would receive their promised allocation, and that all deliveries were expected on time and in full.

A Pfizer spokeswoman also confirmed the company remained “on track to deliver the total committed doses” to Australia for the rest of the year.

Depending on which day the planes land, Australia is expected to receive nine million Pfizer doses in both September and October, plus two million Moderna doses this month and three million next month.

Pharmacy Guild state president Anthony Tassone said Moderna’s arrival marked another “tool in our kitbag to combat the Covid-19 virus”, as he also encouraged Victorians to take the first one available.

“It is another way we can reach our targets for the roadmap that was outlined (on Sunday),” Mr Tassone said.

“It sometimes can feel like, in this pandemic, we are on a plane spiralling and plummeting towards the earth.

“When I look under my seat for the lifejacket I’m not preferencing the red or yellow one. I’m getting what’s there.

“When the oxygen mask drops down, I don’t want the blue or green tubing, I grab what’s there. The best vaccine you can get is the one you can get today.”

Extensive Covid testing is under way on the Surf Coast. Picture: Alison Wynd

PFIZER ‘SAFE FOR KIDS AGED 5-11’

Pfizer announced that its Covid vaccine works for kids ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek US authorisation for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for young children.

The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12 and older. But with children now back in school in the United States and the highly-contagious Delta variant causing a huge jump in paediatric infections, many parents are anxiously awaiting vaccinations for their younger kids, New York Post reports.

Read the full story here.

BARNABY BLASTS ANTI-VAXXERS

Unvaccinated Australians have been told if they choose not to receive a jab they will not be the government’s problem as the nation reopens.

Speaking in Canberra on Monday, Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said Australia had to move on from its current locked down state.

“Unfortunately, we can’t wait for those who decide not to get vaccinated. By the end of October, you’ll have more vaccines than people wanting to get vaccinated,” Mr Joyce said.

Read the full story here.