Rolling coverage: Daniel Andrews faces grilling after right-hand man quits; 15 cases, no new deaths
Victoria’s current coronavirus numbers might be “as it good as it will get”, with Premier Daniel Andrews saying the government’s original road map will be rejigged ahead of Sunday’s announcement. But in a blow to the retail industry, restrictions on non-essential shops are unlikely to be lifted.
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Retailers are unlikely to reopen from next Monday, despite being slated to reopen under Melbourne’s third step from lockdown restrictions.
As the city’s rolling 14-day average continues to remain stubborn, Premier Daniel Andrews said the move was unlikely.
“No decision has been made on retail. And I think it’s unlikely that this weekend there will be a big shift in terms of retail,” he said on Monday.
“There are risks, not so much with the setting, the risk relates to movement. We’ve had Bunnings put pretty clear views to us, our stores are safe, we haven’t had any outbreaks, and that’s largely true.
“I mean that in that they only know what they know. So the notion that no positive person has moved through one of their stores or any other retail store is probably unlikely. I think they almost certainly have.
“And it’s not so much that their premises, because they’ve done a great job with cleaning and all their protocols, it’s not so much the problem with the setting, it’s letting all the customers out of their homes to then go and shop there.”
It comes after the Premier’s right-hand man Chris Eccles sensationally resigned.
Phone records show Chris Eccles spoke to former chief commissioner Graham Ashton for two minutes during the six-minute period being probed by the hotel quarantine inquiry.
The Premier said he was “shocked” by the revelations.
On Monday, Victoria has recorded 15 cases of coronavirus overnight with no new deaths.
The 14-day rolling average has slightly increased in metro Melbourne to 9.9, but remains steady in regional Victoria at 0.4.
There are now 191 active cases across Victoria, with just five of these in the regions.
Of the 15 new cases, 10 are linked to family outbreaks or known clusters and the rest are under investigation.
No one is in intensive care with the virus and 21 people are in hospital.
There have been 10,108 test results processed over the past 24 hours.
Mr Andrews dropped more hints on the restrictions set to be eased on Sunday.
“Despite these numbers — provided we continue to see a trend where there are not a huge number of additional mystery cases — while we continue the see this trend flow through the rest of this week, then there will be some further easing that we can announce on Sunday,” he said.
“That will be broadly on the social space, rather than economic easing, but we may be able to do more on that front in regional Victoria.”
He said the original step three from lockdown is set to be rejigged before the announcement on Sunday.
“We might reconsider some other numbers, because we are getting more actuals, but the other thing that we will have to reconsider is the different steps,” Mr Andrews said.
“Because for want of a better term, and I’m sure we have to come up with one a bit more hopeful than this, but a three-minus for Melbourne and a three-plus for regional Victoria.”
The Premier highlighted the difficult decision on hand, warning that opening up before reaching the original trigger point came with significant risk.
“It may be at a point where we have to call it, where we have to say that this is as good as it will get — that means there is some greater risk, that means that the task of keeping this thing suppressed will be harder,” he said.
Mr Andrews warned it would be “almost impossible” to suppress the virus if restrictions were immediately lifted in Melbourne.
“I can tell you what happens if we open up on 15 cases and (a rolling 14-day average of) 9.9 at this point in time,” he said
“If we open up right now, then it will be almost impossible for us to keep this thing contained and every jurisdiction in the world that’s done it has had that same challenge … you’d be popular for five minutes and then the hospitals will be overrun, and all the people calling for us to open up, including some members of the Federal Government I might add.
“I don’t think they will be standing beside me having to explain why our hospital system is completely overrun. You won’t see them for dust.
“So that’s not leadership. Being popular or political: never been less important to me.”
MORE FINES ISSUED, FATIGUE SETS IN
An illegal party at a CBD apartment resulted in 13 partygoers slapped with hefty fines for breaching lockdown rules, Victoria Police have revealed.
Three women who all live in different suburbs were also fined in the last 24 hours, after leaving their 5km radius to meet for a picnic in Domain Park.
Victoria Police issued 123 fines since yesterday, including 14 for not wearing a mask and 52 at checkpoints.
The Premier urged people, particularly young Victorians, to be accountable for their own actions.
“Ultimately, people have got to take some personal responsibility … for the decisions we make in the weeks and the months ahead because that will directly affect how quickly we open, if we can stay open, how many people will get sick, and whether our hospitals will be able to cope,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’ve all got a stake in that … last October, we had a couple of thousand people had to be admitted to hospital, urgent care, critical care, because they had a heart attack and we had a couple of thousand people who had to be admitted to hospital again into intensive care, critical care, because they had a stroke.
“If all of our ICU beds are full, or even if they’re under strain … and if we’ve got infections and we have to furlough a whole bunch of staff — intensive care units can’t grow on trees. There is always limits.”
SCHOOL CLOSES, YEAR 12S ASKED TO ISOLATE
A positive case of coronavirus has closed one Melbourne private school before it even had a chance to reopen.
Nazareth College, a Catholic senior school in Noble Park, did not open for class as expected on Monday morning and has urged its year 12s to isolate.
Parents were notified by email on Sunday night that a year 12 student who sat the GAT last Wednesday was infected.
There is no time frame for the school’s reopening.
The school’s year 7s were expected to return to class on Monday, along with the year 11s and 12s, but will stick with remote learning until the campus is declared safe.
In a letter to parents sent at 7pm on Sunday night, Nazareth College principal Sam Cosentino said a student had tested positive for the coronavirus and following advice from DHHS and Catholic Education Melbourne, the school was closed for a precautionary clean on Sunday, October 11.
“This closure will allow time for the school and the DHHS to work through a contact and containment strategy,” the letter said.
“Students that attended onsite last week are advised to remain at home while contact tracing occurs. They must limit movements to home-based activities and not attend public places.
“I understand this news will be concerning for many of you. I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to contain and slow the spread of the virus and ensure the health and safety of our whole school community,” Mr Cosentino wrote.
The Department of Education website has been updated to reflect the school’s closure.
JOY AS KIDS RETURN TO CLASSROOM
Close to 600,000 Victorian students have finally reached the finish line after a marathon 10 weeks of learning from home.
It will be the first time in the classroom since June for metro primary students and year 7s, who completed the whole of term 3 from their bedrooms, lounge rooms and kitchen tables.
Students at South Yarra Primary were excited about returning to the classroom as on-site learning resumed this morning.
Sisters Mia and Allegra met with their friend Ilaria before their school day kicked off.
Grade six student Ilaria, 11, admitted she was a bit nervous about the first day back.
“I did like learning from home because there were more things accessible to me but I’m excited to see all my friends again,” she said.
“[Zoom classes] can be quite hard because you don’t get to ask questions too much.”
Meanwhile, mum Eliza Saunders was “over the moon” to do the school drop-off again.
“There’s a big relief to have the school open again,” she said.
“It’s been hard, but you adapt. Spending every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner at home it’s a hard.
“I think we take a lot of things for granted but we won’t now.”
Gavin Sheppard hugged his four-year-old daughter Evelyn at the school gates before she was reunited with her prep classmates.
Mr Sheppard said he had mixed emotions about seeing his daughter returning to school after he months helping her learn from home.
“It’s been a real learning curve from a teaching point of view and I feel like I’m a lot more in tune with where she’s at in terms of learning. It’s been a great period for that,” he said.
“Before lockdown, she couldn’t read and write, and she can read books now. The progress has been incredible.
“It’s been really rewarding to see her reading a book, it’s been lovely.”
Grade two student Jessica said she was happy to be back at school again as she was “over” online learning.
I missed my friends. I’m most excited about seeing them and seeing my teacher – she’s very nice,” the eight-year-old said
Her dad Steven was just as relieved to see the school gates open again.
“I’m happy to see her go back. It’s the best spot for her with her friends and teachers,” he said.
South Yarra Primary principal Neven Paleka said that while most students were eager to get back to the classroom, the school is doing all it can for those who might be struggling with the transition.
“We’re very happy to have everyone back. Most of the students are feeling very excited to be back and we do understand some students will have a bit of anxiety around returning so we’re putting everything in place to support those students,” he said.
Teachers at the school were keen to “get back into it and get back into the routine”, assistant principal Matthew Ferguson added.
“We’re just so proud of the community and the way they responded to move to online learning and now to come back into the natural habitat – face-to-face learning,” he said.
“We’re happy to have students back to get back to business again.”
SCHOOLS TO FOCUS ON WELLBEING
“I would expect to hear the sounds of corks popping on Monday morning,” said Shane Regan, principal of St John Vianney’s Primary School in Parkdale.
“Not in my office, though — maybe a can of Coke Zero.”
For weeks, Mr Regan has ducked out of his office to say hello to students and parents as they passed by on their daily walks
“Everyone, especially children, have said they want to come back, they want to see their friends,” he said.
“From a parent’s perspective, they’re looking for a ray of light.”
Mum Sandra McGaw will have three of her five children returning to school on Monday.
“I’m not going to lie, I did do a happy dance,” she said. “We’re super excited.”
Remote learning had been “difficult” running her own accounting firm and with fireman husband Leon at work, but they “juggled it in the end”.
“Now we’ll have to reinforce routine with bed time and getting up in the morning without a battle,” she said.
Almost 850,000 students will be back in classrooms this week, as metro kids and VCE pupils follow their country counterparts after their return to primary schools at the start of term 4.
Some pupils have been told to return midweek rather than on Monday.
The remaining metro year 8s, 9s and 10s will be back on October 26.
Student wellbeing will be a major focus, with teachers on high alert to look out for any signs pupils are struggling.
Mr Regan said his teachers would get a checklist to note any concerns and pass on them on to the school psychologist and occupational therapist.
Social and emotional behaviour and co-ordination, movement and conditioning would be among issues they’d look out for.
“Parents have said their kids haven’t been as active,” Mr Regan said.
So the school will run balance and strength classes twice a week, run by the PE teacher and the classroom teacher.
Students will have to wash then sanitise their hands immediately on entering the campus at staggered intervals, but temperature checks will no longer be required.
Parents are being called on to stay away from the school gate, to avoid any congregation that could lead to virus transmission.
Education Minister James Merlino said the focus for term 4 would be on supporting students back into the classroom.
“I know how exciting this will be for school staff, students and parents and carers and I want to thank everyone for the work they have done to get us to this point,” he said.
Meanwhile, Victoria Police’s Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner, Libby Murphy, warned motorists around the city to be extra vigilant in school zones as some children may have forgotten road rules during lockdown.
“Children are understandably excited to get to school and see their friends after a lengthy break,” Murphy said.
“In that excitement, it can be easy to forget the dangers of the road and passing traffic.
“Whether kids are walking or riding their bike to and from school, or getting out of a car to walk to the front gate, if a child is hit at greater than 40km an hour they have very little chance of survival.”
HINT AT STEPS TO BE TAKEN NEXT WEEK
The Premier on Sunday confirmed “some significant steps” would be taken this weekend to ease restrictions, despite case numbers remaining stubborn — and it could mean Melburnians will be able to watch the AFL Grand Final with friends and family.
The next step, which was brought forward to October 19 after being originally slated for October 26, was meant to include the axing of the 5km travel limit, an increase to 10 people at an outdoor gathering, up to five visitors at home from a nominated household and the reopening of hairdressers.
Eateries were set to resume a predominantly outdoor seated service, with a group limit of 10 and density limits.
Step three also included the staged return of outdoor non-contact sport for adults, along with the resumption of all outdoor junior sport.
Other measures outlined in the third step from restrictions, but which have been brought forward, include the axing of Melbourne’s curfew and a staged return to school.
Read the full story here.
CONTACT TRACING SYSTEM TRAILS BEHIND
Business groups say Victoria is trailing behind the rest of the country in terms of safe practices by using “crayons” instead of technology.
Businesses in NSW and Queensland are given a QR code which pair with your phone, making it simple for visitors details to be uploaded to a digital system that it easier for the ‘contact and trace’ teams when an outbreak occurs.
But Bill Lang, Executive Director of Small Business Australia, said Victoria was still using pencils and paper to track crucial details — and to avoid a third lockdown technology must be used to limit the damage when cases arise.
“I heard the other day about a cafe that used crayons,” Mr Lang told the Sunday Herald Sun.
The NSW system was the “gold standard” while Victoria had a “stone age” model.
“When you walk into a place of business ‘Service NSW’ has created a free QR code for businesses that digitally scans the mobile phone of customers, providing the immediate access needed for their contact details for their ‘track and trace’ team to get to work on containing an outbreak, which is why they have been able to successfully deal with outbreak after outbreak,” Mr Lang said.
The NSW Government is considering making the Service NSW code compulsory as the state records rising virus cases.
Mr Lang said a world class testing and tracing system would help keep people healthy, but was also vital for the economic recovery.
FITTED FACE MASKS NOW MANDATORY
Scarfs, bandannas and face shields will no longer be able to worn instead of masks, with new rule now in force requiring all those without an exemption wear a fitted face mask in public.
A two week grace period for the new rules around face covering has ended.
Until now, Victorians have been able to use face coverings over their nose and mouth despite public health officials warning they are not as safe.
But Premier Daniel Andrews said fitted masks were now required by law and increasingly important as restrictions were eased.
“Super spreading events can be avoided by people wearing masks,” he said.
Mr Andrews said the government had chosen six local manufacturers for a new order of reusable coverings that would be given to vulnerable residents and frontline staff.
Of these, about 700,000 will go to local government officers, health centres, pharmacies and disability service providers.
Since July, the Government has provided more than 3.6 million single use masks to the community and almost 2.1 million re-usable masks.