Victoria lifts border to majority of Sydney; no new local cases
Victoria is set to reopen to wider Sydney — but anyone who visited these 10 red zones are still cut off and barred from entry.
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Victoria will reopen its border to the majority of Sydney from 6pm Monday.
In total, 25 of the Harbour City’s LGAs will be classed as an orange zone, along with the Blue Mountains and Wollongong.
But the municipalities of Bankstown City, Burwood, Canada Bay City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield City, Inner West, Liverpool City, Parramatta City and Strathfield Municipality remain classed as red zones.
Premier Daniel Andrews said transmission was still ongoing in those 10 local government areas.
“What the detailed and extensive evaluation of the epidemiological conditions in Sydney has revealed is that transmission and cases are pretty much confined to those 10 local government areas,” he said.
“We’re not seeing cases and spread or contacts that are in isolation in those other 25 local government areas.
“That’s what gives the public health team confidence to provide to me and the government and therefore for decisions to be confirmed about releasing or changing from red to orange, those 25 local government areas.”
In addition, 16 NSW along the Victorian border will move from orange to green at 6pm.
Meanwhile, no new local cases of coronavirus have been recorded overnight, but four have emerged in hotel quarantine.
Nearly 14,000 tests were received on Sunday.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said Monday marked 12 days since the last case of local transmission was recorded.
“Twelve is fantastic — a dozen doughnut days. It means that we’re quite confident that we’re on top of this,” he said.
PLAYER AMONG FOUR NEW TENNIS CASES
Four more COVID-positive cases — including one player — have been linked to Australian Open charter flights, with more players likely to be forced into hard lockdown.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews and chief health officer Brett Sutton confirmed the news in their Monday briefing, taking the total cases associated with the tournament to six.
Currently 72 players are confined to their hotel rooms, unable to access the five hours of practise time and training others can.
“I believe there’s one player among the four,” Sutton said.
It is understood that all 15 charter flights bringing competitors to Australia have now arrived.
“All four are associated with the tennis, and they’re all tucked away safely in hotel quarantine,” Mr Andrews said.
“I know that there’s been a bit of chatter from a number of players about the rules. Well, the rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else, and they were all briefed on that before they came.
“And that was the condition on which they came. There’s no special treatment here because the virus doesn’t treat you specially — so neither do we.
“This is a wildly infectious pandemic. There are rules that need to be followed. They will not be changed. And that’s the basis on which people came here.”
Meanwhile, world No.1 Novak Djokovic has sparked a massive backlash after issuing a list of demands to tournament director Craig Tiley.
Follow the latest Australian Open crisis updates here.
DOZENS FORCED TO ISOLATE OVER HOTEL QUARANTINE SCARE
Dozens of hotel quarantine workers were forced to isolate over fears two staff members had tested positive.
The police officer and nurse working within the quarantine program returned weak positives, prompting 41 colleagues to be placed into isolation as a precaution.
However multiple follow up tests returned negative results.
Police minister Lisa Neville, who is responsible for COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, confirmed the false alarm on social media this morning.
“Two CQV staff have been cleared of COVID after returning initial weak positive results,” she said.
“Saliva swab was retested and nasal PCR test taken, both came back negative.
“Contact tracing was undertaken and staff isolated as a precaution until the result was confirmed.”
CBD WORKERS RETURN TO OFFICES
More office workers returned to the CBD this morning but the city centre remained quiet as commuters avoided trams and trains on their way to work.
While Flinders St station would have been bustling on a Monday morning before the coronavirus pandemic took grip on Melbourne, that wasn’t the case this week.
For legal services worker Tarneesha Felton, Monday was her first day back in the office for 10 months.
“The early morning was a bit of a shock to the system but it’ll be nice to see everyone,” the 26-year-old said.
“It’s been 10 months since I was in the office. It’s gone quickly but also really slow at the same time, which is an odd feeling.
“My tram was quite quiet — I was expecting it to be a lot busier today.
“There were a few people but not like how it usually is.”
Mulgrave man Paul Mariano said he was excited to swap working from home for the office once again.
“This is my first day in a new job too so I’m going into a new building — it’s like the first day back at school,” the 37-year-old said.
“March was the last time I was in the office and the city was we definitely a lot busier then. It’s good that it’s not so crowded though – it’s nice to have some distance.”
South Morang woman Diya John was keen to get into the office to see her colleagues in Macquarie Capital.
“It’s so exciting – just the buzz of being back in the city is so invigorating,” she said.
“I’m a uni student as well so it’s been nine months of working and studying from home, which can get confusing when it comes to separating work life and home life.
“I live an hour away so I never thought I’d miss my commute to work but I really did.”
OFFICE WORKERS KEEN ON RETURN
Most city workers want to return to the office, research conducted for Melbourne City Council shows.
But they’re only willing to come back if there’s stringent rules to protect them from COVID-19.
The findings — released as up to 50 per cent of workers on Monday start returning to their desks — are a welcome boost for battling city traders.
It will be the first time some workers have been at the office since March last year.
Melbourne City Council’s research shows almost two-thirds of respondents were either willing to return to their central Melbourne workplace or had already returned by late November and December.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the return of city workers, buoyed through the relaxation of mask rules indoors, was desperately needed.
“Our research shows that while many people have embraced greater flexibility and convenience working from home, they don’t want to live at work,’’ Ms Capp said.
“Less than 10 per cent of people were not at all willing to return to the office.
“Our message to workers returning to the city is that we’ve missed you — welcome back.
“We want Melbourne businesses to thrive again because they are a vital part of what makes our city great.”
Research firm Roy Morgan interviewed more than 500 city workers between November 27 and December 10 last year.
Of those surveyed, 44 per cent were willing to return and 15 per cent were already back.
COVIDSafe procedures and adherence to precautionary measures were the most commonly cited factors leading to people feeling safe to return to work.
Almost two-thirds of workers said the city atmosphere motivated them to return.
Almost 60 per cent wanted to return for improved health and wellbeing and 53 per cent were motivated by improved productivity of the office environment.
Major employers, including Melbourne City Council, are aiming to have as many workers as possible return.
Private workplace officers will be able to increase their capacity to 50 per cent from Monday while 25 per cent of the Victorian Public Service will return to on-site work.
Workers won’t be required to wear masks at their desks but must keep their distance.
NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said: “This interaction is what brings our offices and the CBD to life and adds to the fantastic culture Melbourne is known for.
“While we must continue to be safe and follow social distancing requirements, we’re looking to accommodate as many colleagues as we can in coming weeks as we start to return to our Melbourne buildings.”
EnergyAustralia managing director Catherine Tanna said it would soon welcome back bigger numbers of workers.
“Most of our Melbourne-based people have told us that they will likely split their working weeks between remote working and the office,’’ she said.
While Kensington local Peta McLucas didn’t miss the commute to Melbourne City Council, the senior communications adviser said she was thrilled to head back.
“I’m looking forward to the buzz of being in the city, the social connection and seeing my colleagues in person rather than all over Zoom,” she said.
SUPPORT FOR MASKS AS RULE EASES
Victoria’s mask rules have been relaxed as new research has revealed that almost three quarters of Australians believe wearing masks should be compulsory.
Guidelines around masks have returned to what they were before the Black Rock outbreak, meaning face coverings are no longer mandatory in all indoor settings.
However, mask wearing will still be compulsory on public transport and in taxis, inside shopping centres and indoor markets along with large retail stores.
Masks must also be worn on domestic flights to and from Victoria, as well as at airports and in hospitals.
The changes come into effect as a new survey has shown that 72 per cent of people agree with mandatory mask-wearing.
The poll, carried out by Roy Morgan, showed that support for compulsory mask wearing is highest in Victoria (77 per cent) and NSW (80 per cent) compared to other states and territories.
Support for masks among Victorians has jumped by 12 per cent since the market research company’s November survey, which was conducted before the Black Rock cluster.
Women were found to be most in favour of mask rules (77 per cent), while the age group that backed masks the most was those aged over 65 (78 per cent).
Meanwhile, the majority of Australians said they will get vaccinated when the jab becomes available
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said support for the vaccine was strong across the board.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is set to be rolled out across Australia starting from next month and the good news is a clear majority of 77% of Australians say they will be vaccinated when the vaccine becomes publicly available – and this support is strong across all sections of the community including both genders, people of all ages, supporters of different political parties and in every State and Territory,” Ms Levine said.
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