Rolling coverage: City office blocks remain empty as workers choose to stay home

Melbourne bosses are not mandating a return to the office, leaving city buildings well below the permitted capacity. It comes as Victoria hits 15 days with no new cases, while a Brisbane hospital is in lockdown.

Melbourne’s streets remain quiet despite an increase in office capacities. Picture: Luis Ascui/NCA NewsWire.

Victoria’s Department of Health is actively monitoring a positive COVID case in Brisbane after a doctor at Princess Alexandra Hospital, one of Queensland’s largest hospitals, tested positive to the highly infectious UK strain of COVID-19 and was infectious while in the community.

It comes as Victoria reached its 15th day with no locally acquired new cases of COVID-19.

The total number of COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn remains at 24.

There are three active cases and no COVID-19 patients in hospital.

CITY OFFICES EMPTY AS WORKERS STAY HOME

Melbourne office towers remain largely empty, with about a third of workers back to their pre-pandemic desks.

More workers are expected to come back into the city in coming weeks, but the trickle that have returned recently means buildings are well below their pandemic occupancy caps.

Major corporate employers and public sector bosses are encouraging rather than mandating a return to offices, meaning most are well below the chief health officer’s cap of 75 per cent building occupancy.

The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal 34 per cent of public servants are back to their pre-COVID work stations — and not all of them are working five days a week.

Docklands Chamber of Commerce president Johanna Maxwell said there was a similar trend in private operations, and city traders do not expect a massive uplift anytime soon.

“We are seeing some increase in numbers but we are looking at no more than 25 to 30 per cent of people coming back in and those that are coming in are not coming in every day, they are coming in one or two days a week,” she said.

Ms Maxwell runs her own business, Docklands Chauffeurs, and also works in a corporate role.

She is experiencing first-hand the resistance to staff to return to the office full time amid concerns around public transport and parking, as well as the pleasure of forgoing a daily commute.

A government spokesman said while “some people will want to get back to the office as soon as possible” others may want to stay at home for longer and arrangements were being worked through by departments based on operational requirements and building density restrictions.

The head of the Victorian branch of the Community and Public Sector Union, Karen Batt, said she was encouraging “all our state workers to plan their return”.
“There’s such great benefits from face-to-face collaboration with colleagues and seeing the city buzz return,” she said.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp echoed the call, saying the council had 75 per cent of employees back on site to lead by example.

“I’m encouraging all major employers and landlords to work proactively to get their teams back to the city,” she said.

“Pre COVID city workers made up almost half of the daily population in the CBD. They are critical to the economic recovery and to revive thousands of city businesses that rely on local foot traffic.”

Office workers made up about half of the city’s daily population prior to COVID.

City of Melbourne pedestrian data showed 573 people passed its sensor at the north end of Bourke Street mall between 8am and 9am on Friday.

That was up 25 per cent of the four-week average and 73 per cent on the same time a year earlier.

Office workers are encouraged to return to the city to support local businesses. Picture: David Geraghty/NCA NewsWire.

But it remains well down on the 1002 people who filed past on the same day in 2019 before the pandemic hollowed out city centres across the globe.

Among major Melbourne corporations the return to office remains mixed.

ANZ’s Docklands headquarters, which housed 6500 before the pandemic, is running at about 20 per cent capacity.

In contrast, the local corporate offices of Commonwealth Bank, which houses 1300, are running at 45 per cent capacity while BHP and Transurban hit 50 per cent this week.

“Our people in our Melbourne CBD offices are able to return to the workplace in a hybrid capacity that balances being at work with working remotely,” a CBA spokesman said.

Property Council of Australia data shows Melbourne’s CBD occupancy rate hit 31 per cent in January before slumping back to 24 per cent in February amid the snap lockdown.

Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said progress has been slowed but building owners and managers are expecting to see a material increase over the next two months.

“While we’re all expecting to see more people working from home as part of the new post-COVID normal, thriving CBDs will be critical to Australia’s economic recovery,” she said.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said it was clear the snap lockdown had hurt return to office plans.

“The biggest driver for Victorians to get back in the office and CBD is confidence, and that can only come with certainty – certainty that our hotel quarantine and contact tracing systems are solid and keeping the virus at bay, and certainty that the vaccine rollout is on track,” he said.

Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt. Picture: Sarah Matray

HEALTH MINISTER OUT OF HOSPITAL

Health and aged care minister Greg Hunt will return to parliament on Monday after being discharged from hospital.

Mr Hunt said on Sunday afternoon he had been discharged from his stays at St Vincent’s Public and Private Hospitals in Sydney where he received treatment for cellulitis, a bacterial skin condition in which affected skin becomes swollen and red.

“Earlier today I was discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for cellulitis of my upper right leg and accompanying fever,” Mr Hunt said.

“I will return to Parliament on Monday and will follow a course of antibiotics.”

The health minister also thanked hospital staff and those who sent him well-wishes during his stay.

“I am also very thankful for all of the messages of support both to myself, my family and my office,” he said.

“I want to thank the extraordinary staff at both St Vincent’s Public and Private Hospitals in Sydney who took care of me during my stay.

“I particularly want to thank the nurses Paru, Neave, Sushma, Miru, Tracey and Bina, as well as my doctors David and Michael. There are many others, particularly in my journey through the Emergency Department whose names I didn’t learn, but whose care and attention was deeply appreciated.”

Mr Hunt was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night and confirmed his bout of cellulitis on Wednesday, following speculation his hospital stay had been linked to a COVID-19 vaccine.

He received the AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday last week alongside Julia Gillard.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison acted as health minister while Mr Hunt was hospitalised.