More freedoms for Victoria as state races towards 80 per cent target
A major easing of restrictions will come early for Victorians, with almost all Covid restrictions to be gone once the state reaches its 90 per cent vaccination target.
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Victoria will be fast-tracked back to more normal living conditions as the state races towards key vaccination targets, Daniel Andrews has confirmed.
In a press conference on Sunday morning, the Premier said Victoria would reach the 80 per cent vaccination rate a week early - on Friday, October 29 - meaning the state would move to new settings on Friday.
He said the state would be at the 90 per cent vaccination rate as early as November 24.
Mr Andrews said there would be a “fundamental change to rules” because of this.
“There will be a fundamental change, a massive change in many respects, to the rules that we have all been living under,” he said.
When the state reached 90 per cent, Mr Andrews said “there will be no (capacity) caps anywhere”.
“There will be no density limits anywhere,” he confirmed.
“Masks will only be required in high risk indoor settings, such as public transport, prisons, hospitals, and aged care.
“We will retain the vaccinated economy, all those requirements, all those settings, where you can only get in if you are double vaccinated.”
Mr Andrews confirmed details reported exclusively in the Sunday Herald Sun, saying he would in fact like to see a crowd of 80,000 at the Boxing Day Test.
Victoria had been originally slated to reach the 80 per cent target by November 5.
Victorians will instead be free to travel interstate and to regional Victoria as soon as Friday.
From 6pm that day, both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria will follow the same restrictions, meaning double vaccination requirements will be in place across the entire state.
From Friday, masks will no longer be required outdoors and caps on patrons for indoor business will be scrapped.
Entertainment venues will also reopen, with cinemas and theatres able to operate at 75 per cent capacity.
Five thousand people will be allowed at stadiums, zoos and music festivals.
When the state hits 90 per cent, businesses will no longer be required to follow strict density limits, with caps expected to be scrapped entirely.
Mr Andrews said double dose mandates would stay well into 2022.
“We will retain the vaccinated economy, all those requirements, all those settings, where you can only get in if you are double vaxxed and you can tap and verify that for everybody, that vaccinated economy is here to stay, it will not be folded up moments after it gets to full peak,” he said.
“In fact we will add to the vaccinated economy by asking and mandating that all non-essential retail will have to be vaccinated as well, both to go in and also to work in those settings.”
There will “a single-gateway” of one-off approvals for all events “across the board”, the Premier added.
Event approvals would be streamlined from the “endless paperwork” system now in place.
“We’ll try and make that as simple as we possibly can,” Mr Andrews said.
“I want to see 80-plus thousand people at the Boxing Day Test on day one - that’s what I want to see and we are determined to deliver that.”
In the past 24 hours, Victoria recorded 1935 new Covid cases and a further 11 deaths, taking the number of active cases to 24,993.
It follows 69,624 tests in the past 24 hours.
There are 146 people in intensive care, with 93 on ventilators.
Seventy-three per cent of Victorians are now fully vaccinated.
CALL FOR OFFICE WORKERS TO RETURN SOONER
The property industry wants workers back in city offices as soon as possible.
Property Council Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said ditching mask-wearing indoors when 90 per cent full vaccination was achieved would “supercharge” the return to office.
“We now call on the state government to take a leadership role and mandate a return to office for public sector workers who have not returned to office since the pandemic started,” Ms Hunter said.
“With mask rules indoors and caps and density limits lifted, there is no reason why we can’t see private and public sectors workers back in the office.
“We know this is critical for employees and employers, and for the revitalisation of Melbourne’s CBD, and we are excited that Victorians will return to the city in the coming weeks as they are the lifeblood of Melbourne.”
Ms Hunter said he CBD “needs our attention and our love”.
”It’s time to rediscover our relationship with our incredible city; the places we work, the colleagues we haven’t seen in person for months, the restaurants and bars we enjoy, and the vibe we’ve missed throughout extended and repeated lockdowns,” she said.
Melbourne’s city economy supports 500,000 jobs and produces about 7 per cent of Australia’s GDP and 25 per cent of Victoria’s GSP at peak.
According to the Property Council’s office occupancy survey for September, Melbourne is at just six per cent of its pre-COVID office occupancy levels.
The city’s office occupancy has not reached 50 per cent of pre-COVID levels since the pandemic began.
FEARS FOR SUPPLY CHAINS
Farmers are preparing for a tough summer with fears rising costs linked to the pandemic will leave many struggling to keep their businesses open.
The Victorian Farmers Federation says more certainty is needed over how farmers and their supply chains can operate under Covid-normal conditions.
Good rainfall has led to bumper crops for the second year in a row – and while the planned return of skilled overseas workers has been welcomed, new issues have popped up.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said there was “no clear guidance” on how the farming industry should deal with workplaces becoming coronavirus exposure sites.
She said one link in the supply chain, such as an abattoir or packing shed, being deemed an exposure site could make supplying food “difficult”.
She called for a rethink of quarantine rules, similar to concessions provided to supermarket staff.
“The one thing we don’t want to do is say there will be food shortages … but the problem is that if we wait until we see shortages, agriculture doesn’t just turn on a dime,” Ms Germano said.
“By the time that happens, you’ve got months before you can correct that.”
Lilliput Ag director Andrew Russell, whose crops include canola and fava beans, said he couldn’t remember two such strong crops happening “in the last 25 years” and believed supply chain uncertainty was a “major concern”.
“This is the most important time of year for us and for us to be shut down, effectively, as an operation – the risk that poses to us is enormous,” Mr Russell said.
THOUSANDS FLOCK TO PENINSULA
Melburnians were out and about on Saturday with thousands flocking to the Mornington Peninsula on the first weekend out of lockdown in nearly three months.
It was a drizzly morning with the mercury only topping out in the mid-teens but that didn’t dampen spirits as eager day-trippers made a beeline for Sorrento.
Bumper to bumper traffic clogged Point Nepean Rd after the travel limit imposed on the city was extended to all of Greater Melbourne which includes the peninsula.
Cafes opened for indoor dining while small retailers traded on the footpath, welcoming visitors with open arms after a “tough few months”.
Julie Lochran manages fashion retailer Blue Illusion and said it was great to be back in business.
“Everyone’s done it really tough, we’re all really loyal staff members and we just want to get back to doing what we love,” she said.
“The vibe down here is really good. It’s a great place to come down and support businesses and we just want to welcome everybody back.
“It’s just a shame the weather is the way it is but yesterday (Friday) was mad.”
Groups of pubgoers took to the Ocean Beach Pavilion for seated drinks and food with a mix of locals and out-of-towners filling up the venue’s capacity limit.
“It feels really positive to be back and this weekend we’ve been pretty steady with bookings,” manager Dilian Jay said.
“The customers are happy … It’s good to be back on track.”
Mr Jay said he wasn’t worried about the risk of Melburnians spreading Covid to the beachside town because of the area’s high vaccination rate.
The Mornington Peninsula has a first dose rate of nearly 95 per cent with three in four residents aged 16 years and older fully vaccinated.
Young family Katherine Kok, Danny Graham and one-year-old daughter Amelia, enjoyed a lunch at the pavilion after making the trip down from Mount Eliza.
“We’ve been trying to help out small businesses … It’s great to be able to go out and support the hospitality industry in particular which has been doing it so tough these last couple of years,” Mr Graham said.
“You’ve got to get out when you can especially with kids and teach them not to be afraid of a little weather,” Ms Kok added.
BOOSTER SHOTS FOR EVERYONE FROM NEXT WEEK
Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia could become the first country after Israel to start rolling out booster shots across the whole population — from as early as the end of next week.
The news comes as Pfizer announced results of the first trials of third-shot doses increased the protection by more than 95.6 per cent, compared to people who had received only two shots.
The massive increase in the level of protection offered makes it highly likely a third dose will become the standard for Pfizer vaccinations across the world.
Mr Hunt said he expected the TGA to move quickly on approval.
“By the end of the week hopefully we’ll be in a position to start,” he said.
“We’ve got all the vaccines we need.”
Read the full article here.
PROBE INTO ALLEGED FAKE VAX CERTIFICATES
Health authorities are probing a medical clinic in Melbourne’s west after doctors allegedly falsified Covid vaccine passports and granted invalid exemptions.
The Health Department confirmed it was aware of allegations against the Maidstone clinic with the matter referred to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
A concerned neighbour who did not want to be named said “hundreds” of people had lined up outside the centre in the early hours of the morning until late at night in recent weeks.
Read the full article here.
PROTESTS FAIL TO DRAW CROWD
Dozens of maskless protesters took to the streets of St Kilda on Saturday afternoon to protest the state’s vaccine mandates.
Demonstrators marched down Acland Street and could be seen holding signs which said “pro choice”, while one man wore a T-shirt which said “I do not consent!”
The protesters sat on blankets on the footpaths outside of the street’s pubs and restaurants as Victoria Police personnel watched on.
Read the full article here.
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