Victoria records no new coronavirus cases, new permit system with South Australia
A new permit system for South Australians to enter Victoria will be enforced from midnight.
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A new permit system will be used to restrict anyone entering Victoria from South Australia, with police and authorised officers to enforce the scheme from midnight Saturday.
The Andrews Government will make the permits available on the Service Victoria website but the restrictions will not apply to those in the current 70km cross-border bubble.
Residents in these areas will be required to use their existing permits with South Australian authorities.
A state government spokeswoman said exemptions would also apply such as for emergency services and for those living on a property that extends across both sides of the border.
“People who have visited a SA high risk exposure site will not be allowed to visit Victoria unless an exemption is granted by the Chief Health Officer,” she said.
“People may make an application for an exemption.
“Victoria Police will monitor and enforce the permit system through spot checks and DHHS Authorised Officers will be meeting flights at airports.
“The Victorian Government will continue to monitor the situation in South Australia and will continue to be guided by the health advice.”
VIC TO HAVE ‘RIGOROUS’ HOTEL QUARANTINE SYSTEM
Victoria’s Health Minister has revealed plans for the state to have the “most rigorous” hotel quarantine system in Australia as it prepares for international arrivals to return in 16 days.
But Martin Foley would not be drawn on the specifics of how the resurrected scheme would work or whether travellers would have to pay for their own isolation.
“We will have the most rigorous system of hotel quarantine in the country,” he said.
“We need to be putting public health and safety first.
“That is precisely what has underpinned Justice Coate’s inquiry.”
Mr Foley said the government’s response to the hotel quarantine inquiry would be released soon.
“So the 36,000 Australians who want to get back to Australia can do so and Victoria can make its contribution,” he said.
“Victorians have sacrificed so much that the rightful expectation they have is that the government has learnt, the community has learnt, along the way from this highly infectious virus.”
When asked whether he saw value in Victorians continuing to wear masks outside, Mr Foley said the government would have more announcements to make on Sunday.
“The public health advice will be underpinning our response,” he said.
“I wear a mask outside as required by the public health orders and I’d urge all Victorians to do the same.”
NO NEW CASES; MASK RULE EASING DATE REVEALED
Victoria has recorded no new coronavirus cases or deaths for the 22nd day in a row.
More than 11,000 people were tested in the past 24 hours and the state now has just one active case of COVID-19.
It comes as mask rules are set to be relaxed on Sunday with Melbourne restaurant and pub owners who’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing to open warn the government must not flip on its promise to ease restrictions.
Under the road map, venues will be able to take 100 diners inside and 200 outside from 11:59pm on Sunday.
But with the government having previously flipped on mooted changes, restaurateur Chris Lucas called on Premier Daniel Andrews to “honour the promise”.
He said fast-tracking the state to COVID-normal and allowing workers to return to Melbourne’s CBD before Christmas should also be on the table.
“Quite frankly, we’d like to go to COVID-normal,” he said.
“We have taken a risk and opened our books up, we have spent hundreds of thousand of dollars and we expect the promise to ease restrictions to be honoured”.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Paul Guerra said: “Given consistent consecutive days of double zeros, we should progress from the last step to COVID-normal very quickly to maximise the Christmas trading period.
“While some restaurants, cafes and pubs will welcome the increase in patron caps to 100, the one person per four square metre density limits remains prohibitive for many other venues.
“Allowing one person per two square metres with a patron cap of 300 would go a long way to maintaining safety and business sustainability.”
It comes as health authorities were nervously investigating a coronavirus case to see whether it was a new infection or a reinfection from an old case.
On Friday, Deputy Premier James Merlino said “late yesterday DHHS was notified of a weak positive test result for a woman in her 80s.”
“This case was screened as part of pre-surgical screening. This case has no identified links to known coronavirus cases and is not symptomatic. The result is most likely a false positive or reflects a historic infection. Further investigations are underway”.
There was no update on waste water testing after tests in Benalla and Portland indicated coronavirus fragments.
Despite the concerns over a possible new cases, on Thursday Mr Andrews said he did not expect to deviate from the road map.
He also flagged changes to the mandatory mask policy, including masks not needed outside.
Other restrictions to be eased from Monday include lifting wedding guest lists to 100, more people at gyms, pools and cinemas.
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