Melbourne’s COVID restrictions should be eased, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says
The current controversial 5km travel limit could be scrapped and replaced with an expanded 20km zone, with authorities revealing they are running “models as we speak”.
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A 20km travel limit is being considered for Melbourne’s new road map - due to be released on Sunday - as commerce chiefs renew their calls for small businesses to be reopened.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng confirmed the current controversial 5km zone could be expanded, but said the final decision had not yet been made.
“We are looking at it, but the announcement will be on Sunday,” Mr Cheng said.
“We’re looking at everything at the moment.
“We are running the models as we speak and they should be off the computer in the next day or so, it does take a little bit of time to do that.
“We are considering all sorts of things.”
It comes as business chiefs have turned up the heat on Daniel Andrews, warning many businesses will close permanently before Christmas without a plan out of Melbourne’s “extreme lockdown”.
Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott said the lockdown was “papering over the urgent need for a workable plan to live safely with this virus”.
“We all recognise that in the long run there can be no trade-off between health, social and economic recovery, but our strategy must deliver on all fronts, or it will fail,” she said.
“Victoria needs to lead and bring forward its timetable to open up so people can get on with their lives and learn to live safely side-by-side with the virus.”
“We need a faster and more certain timetable so everyone can plan, it’s simply not viable for many people and businesses for Victoria to remain mothballed indefinitely and cut off from the rest of the country.”
Ms Westacott said Victorians were rightly asking why the lockdown was continuing when case numbers were similar to New South Wales, where a COVID-normal society had been possible for months.
Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chief Peter Strong backed her call for action, saying businesses needed certainty to plan for the busy Christmas period.
“They deserve to know now if they will be able to open up their doors and given time to stock up their inventory,” he said.
“Failure to implement a staged reopening of the Victorian economy from this Sunday will result in many small and family businesses in Victoria being forced to close their doors permanently — even before the Christmas trading season begins,.”
The business chiefs said employers were willing to work with the state government to deliver COVID-safe plans to open safely.
Ms Westacott said people needed to remain vigilant but that the continuing lockdown had produced “a false sense of security and a lack of preparedness to live side by side with the virus”.
Meanwhile, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Victoria should be able to reopen with 10 new COVID-19 cases a day, as he and his colleagues ramp up the pressure on Mr Andrews to ease restrictions.
Mr Hunt said on Wednesday that a rolling average below 10 cases was the “national threshold” to be cleared as a coronavirus hotspot, compared to the Premier’s target of five cases a day.
With seven new cases recorded on Wednesday, Melbourne’s 14-day rolling average dropped to 9.6, while it was 0.6 in regional Victoria. Authorities are still investigating 14 mystery cases diagnosed over that time.
Mr Andrews conceded earlier this week that the figures could be “as good as it will get”, as his government prepares to l ift some restrictions this Sunday.
Changes could include adjusting the 5km travel limit, allowing larger outdoor gatherings and freeing up some businesses to reopen.
On Wednesday, Mr Andrews promised to take “safe steps”.
“It won’t be everything that we were going to do but we’ll try and paint a picture of what the coming weeks after Sunday look like,” he said.
“At some point the cost of the restrictions will be greater than the increased risk and the increased challenge for our public health team to keep suppressed the virus if we open earlier than we had planned.”
Mr Hunt pointed to how New South Wales had been able to stay open with a similar caseload, saying their model would “provide a way forward for Victoria”.
“It’s giving people hope, it’s giving people freedom and above all else, it’s giving them a pathway to all of the things which will help them reduce the mental health impacts that are devastating,” he said.
Josh Frydenberg also warned of the “devastating” mental health impact of Melbourne’s lockdown.
“My message, today and every day, to the Premier of Victoria is please understand the impact that the lockdown and these harsh restrictions are having on people’s mental health,” the Treasurer said.
“Please give the people of Victorian their freedom back this weekend.”
Mr Andrews said Mr Frydenberg’s interventions were not “particularly helpful”, and that Scott Morrison had not raised the Treasurer’s criticisms with him in a discussion on Wednesday.
“There’s a clear strategy. He’s entitled to his view, he’s entitled to say whatever he wants to say,” Mr Andrews said.
“I’m really not interested in talking about Josh Frydenberg any more than I already have.”
The Prime Minister said he was working closely with Mr Andrews on mental health, and how to respond to the state’s royal commission into the issue.
“Victorians are doing it incredibly tough and Melburnians the toughest of them all,” Mr Morrison said.
“The support we’ve delivered for mental health, I have no doubt, has saved lives in Melbourne.”
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