Ballarat lockdown won’t include curfew as Brett Sutton says risk of hitting 1000 cases a day ‘real’
Ballarat’s shock week-long lockdown will be subject to all of the restrictions Melburnians must endure except for one controversial component.
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Ballarat will be thrown into a localised lockdown for a week amid rising cases in the regional community.
It comes after Premier Daniel Andrews last week pledged the state government would adopt a targeted approach to Covid outbreaks in the regions.
A surge in cases in the Ballarat area prompted the state to enforce new restrictions in the region.
The lockdown will begin at 11.59pm Wednesday night.
Exercise and movement will be limited to a 5km radius, but residents will be able to travel further if there are no shops within this distance.
However, the regional town won’t be subject to Melbourne’s controversial night curfew.
Meanwhile, Shepparton’s lockdown will be eased from 11.59pm Wednesday, bringing its restrictions in line with the rest of regional Victoria.
Eased rules will include venues opening with capacity limits and a return to school for some students.
Professor Brett Sutton said it was hard to know when the state’s Covid numbers would peak and the risk of daily cases reaching 1000 was very real.
Case numbers have soared over the past week but Professor Sutton said the number had begun to stabilise.
“The risk of it getting to 1000 is real,” he said.
“So we have to press on with vaccinations at the fastest possible rate for that reason alone.”
RING OF STEEL TO BLOCK PROTESTS
Public transport will be halted on Saturday in a bid to keep anti-lockdown protesters from storming Melbourne’s CBD.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton says the transit network will be paused on Saturday between 8am and 2pm in an effort to keep thousands of people from coming into the city for a planned midday protest against lockdown restrictions.
Read the full story here
PARLIAMENT TO TAKE PLACE REMOTELY
Parliament will no longer be cancelled due to Covid-19 outbreaks or lockdowns, with MPs now able to participate remotely under new reform.
The Victorian Upper House on Wednesday passed a motion that would allow Members of Parliament to participate in Question Time and deliver speeches from home if they are unwell or subjected to stay-at-home orders.
They won’t be able to vote remotely, but a successful amendment would allow for an MPs position to be officially recorded in Hansard.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam – who pushed for the reform – said the motion was a “huge step in the right direction” and would bring the Upper House “closer to the 21st century.
“This reform will help prevent parliament being cancelled again, and ensure MPs can participate online if they’re unwell, or contract Covid,” Ms Ratnam said.
“It will also help make parliament more family friendly by allowing new parents to participate remotely.”
It comes after Ms Ratnam was forced to give up her vote on a number of bills while on maternity leave last year.
Ms Ratnam said it shouldn’t have taken parliament so long to align with other workplaces that had enabled remote work policies over the past 18 months.
“The Upper House has finally moved one step closer to the 21st century after most other workplaces have found a way to work online over the past 18 months,” she said.
But Ms Ratnam said there were still gaps left to fill, and urged both the state government and the opposition to support a “pairing system” that included the crossbench.
“It’s disappointing that both the government and the opposition aren’t yet on board … as that’s still the missing piece of the puzzle,” she said.
“Both Labor and the Libs essentially do this now, yet the crossbench are denied the same opportunity.”
423 NEW CASES, TWO DEATHS
Victoria has recorded 423 new Covid cases and two additional deaths.
More than 41,856 vaccines were administered on Tuesday, bringing the state closer to a key vaccine milestone.
At least 67.7 per cent of eligible residents have received one dose of the Covid vaccine.
So far, 41.4 per cent have been fully vaccinated with two doses of the jab.
A man in his 40s from Whittlesea, and a second man in his 70s, from Wyndham, died with Covid-19 in Victoria.
“We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences and we extend those sympathies to their families and, indeed, to all of their friends and they are in our hearts, our thoughts and prayers today,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
WHERE LATEST CASES EMERGED
• 270 positive cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, including Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park and Glenroy
• 112 cases in Melbourne’s western suburbs, including Truganina, Tarneit and Point Cook;
• 10 cases in the Eastern suburbs across Croydon and Donvale
• 25 cases in the southeastern suburbs, including Keysborough, Dandenong, and Clyde North
• Five cases in regional Victoria, including Ballarat, Geelong and Mitchell
Health authorities are also increasingly concerned about Covid-19 on the Surf Coast, where there has been a number of exposure sites in recent days.
The virus has also been detected in local wastewater samples.
“We want to try to find any cases who might be out there and identify if there are exposure sites,” Professor Sutton said.
“It’s always a concern to have a signal that might indicate an undetected positive case.”
Mr Andrews previously flagged that Victoria’s highly awaited roadmap out of lockdown will be unveiled on Sunday.
While details remain scarce, Mr Andrews has hinted it would outline how the coming months would unfold.
“It will give people a clear sense of what we’re working towards,” he said.
However, the state opposition has called on the government to immediately bring forward its Sunday roadmap announcement.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on Wednesday called for immediate measures to be taken for the sake of Victorians living in “limbo”.
“This has gone on too long,” Mr Guy said.
“Every day spent waiting is another day wasted. No more spin, just give us the plan.
“Rather than stringing the community along for another week – let’s give families, businesses and students some certainty today.
“Victorians just want to get on with their lives and deserve a positive plan that gives our state hope for the future.”
Mr Guy called for a number of restrictions to be immediately lifted including:
• Ending the curfew
• Getting year 11 and 12 students back to the classroom for term 4
• Allowing small outdoor gatherings
• Bringing Victorians stranded interstate home as soon as possible
• Releasing the health advice upon which each and every restriction is imposed
“We don’t need to wait days and days for a media announcement from the government to maximise their political coverage,” Mr Guy said.
“There are Victorians that need an announcement today. They can’t wait until Sunday.”
VICTIM’S FAMILY URGES PEOPLE TO GET JAB
The family of a Melbourne dad who died of the virus on Monday has urged the community to get vaccinated.
Martin “Marty” Blight, 43, who died in hospital after contracting the virus at the Serco call centre in Mill Park, was not vaccinated.
His last social media post on Thursday September 9 read: “Covid sux guys look after yourselves plz do what ever you can to self distance that’s one thing I would say that works …”
Meanwhile, the V/Line outbreak has worsened with a seventh worker testing positive on Tuesday. And outbreak fears are growing at the Metropolitan Remand Centre, where another three prisoners have tested positive to Covid-19, taking that cluster to five.
WATCHDOG TO PROBE BORDER PERMITS
Border permit issues that left Victorians “effectively homeless” and stuck interstate will be investigated by the state’s watchdog.
Ombudsman Deborah Glass on Wednesday morning revealed she would launch a probe into Victoria’s travel permit system.
People trying to enter Victoria have made more than 80 complaints about the issue, with the problem escalating after New South Wales was declared an “extreme risk zone” in July.
Under the probe, specific cases reported to the office will be examined including children wanting to return home with parents once their school closed in NSW and a woman who wanted to get back to care for her adult daughter.
Read the full story here.
FURY OVER CONTRADICTORY RULE
While Melbourne’s pet groomers are thrilled they can once again tend to man’s best friend on Tuesday, some hairdressers were tearing their hair out over their industry not being afforded the same leniency from the state government.
Mobile pet groomers were permitted on Tuesday to hit the road again, after animal rights advocates and vets launched calls to overturn the ban, fearing it would lead to an animal welfare crisis.
But hairdressers like Sonja Connor believe it is “unfair” that their industry was not also considered for an easing of restrictions, with Victoria currently battling a mental health crisis.
“I think that it’s great that dog groomers have been allowed to reopen but at the same time, it’s unfair we’re not being put in the same category,” Ms Connor said.
“We are support persons for so many people.
“The cutting of hair becomes the second part of our job. It’s being a therapist and a friend that comes first. Some people tell their hairdressers things before they tell their mum.”
Ms Connor, the technical director at Fitzroy salon Cream Melbourne, said hairdressers could help ease the demand for counsellors and mental health professionals across the city.
“We just need to be their for our clients,” she said.
Dog groomer Jarred Curtis, who owns Jim’s Dog Wash Brighton, agrees with Ms Connor and said the hairdressing industry was “not just for looks”.
CROWN BACKS MCG VACCINE HUB
Crown has thrown its support behind plans to turn the MCG into a mass vaccination hub in AFL grand final week.
Crown Melbourne, which is the state’s largest private single-site employer, will encourage all of its 12,500 staff, who are yet to be vaccinated, to get their jab at the ’G if it goes ahead.
This week, Crown said it would introduce a mandatory vaccination rule across all of its venues, requiring both staff and visitors to be inoculated as a condition of entry.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and a host of footy legends are among those to have backed using the MCG as a vaccination hub, after Melbourne lost the grand final for the second year in a row because of Covid lockdowns.
The Herald Sun revealed on Tuesday that Melbourne had the lowest first-dose vaccination rate of any local government area in the state, fuelling momentum for the initiative.
The state opposition has also backed the Jab at the ’G – proposed by the Sunday Herald Sun – and on Tuesday said suburban footy grounds could be used as a fallback.
“Losing the grand final for a second year running hurts, and nothing can erase that pain. But let’s do something positive and kick some goals in the race to get vaccination rates up,” opposition sports spokeswoman Cindy McLeish said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the grand final public holiday, on Friday next week, was the ideal opportunity to allow footy fans to be vaccinated in their team’s colours at their club home bases.
“This is a simple way to lift spirits and vaccination rates at the same time,” he said. “Victorians love their footy, and love showing off their colours at this time of year. Why not combine that with an opportunity to be vaccinated at your traditional home ground?”
— Click here to sign the Jab at the G petition.
SUICIDE TOTAL DECLINES
Fewer Victorians have taken their own lives this year compared to last, data from the state’s Coroners Court has revealed.
A report released on Tuesday found there were 439 suicides in Victoria up until August 31 this year, compared to 493 over the same time in 2020.
All age groups across both genders saw their numbers drop or remain steady except suicide among girls under 18 – eight this year compared to just two in 2020.
The report cautioned that suicide rates could vary substantially from year to year and care needed to be taken in drawing conclusions from the data.
It comes as the state government announced a $22m funding boost for mental health to fast-track care to those most in need.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS TO LAST FOR YEARS
The woman in charge of reviewing Australia’s quarantine system has revealed returning travellers could face restrictions for years to come.
Jane Halton is conducting her second review of quarantine arrangements for international travellers entering the country.
Home quarantine is expected to be in place before Christmas. But Ms Halton – who works for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation, and has been asked by the federal government to review quarantine arrangements – hasn’t ruled out the need to isolate beyond 2022.
“In three or four years’ time, I’ll be surprised if we’re using these kinds of arrangements,” she said on Tuesday.
“Unless, for example, there’s a very nasty new variant. We don’t know how long it’ll take us to have the kind of level of coverage of vaccines, but also the level of protection right across the community.”
The number of days people will have to isolate when international travel resumes will depend on their vaccination status and the level of risk.
Ms Halton said home quarantine pilot schemes, already begun in South Australia, were expected to be well under way elsewhere in the next month. However, the option for fully vaccinated Aussies overseas wanting to return for Christmas will hinge on the country hitting its 80 per cent full vaccination target.
“Home quarantining won’t be an option for everybody,” she said. “But for many people, the possibility will be real and, I think, is something that we’ll be looking to make pretty widely available.”
EXPERTS BACK GRAND FINAL DAY MEET-UPS
Grand final day picnics should be given the green light, the curfew should be lifted and unlimited exercise allowed when the state hits a vaccination target at the end of the week, health experts say.
Victoria is on track to have 70 per cent of people aged over 15 single-dose vaccinated by Friday, a milestone Premier Daniel Andrews previously flagged would see the travel limit extended, skate parks reopened and outdoor personal training allowed.
But health experts have told the Herald Sun more freedoms would be safe, including small outdoor gatherings for grand final day.
Read the full story here.
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