Rolling coverage: Zero new coronavirus cases for third consecutive day
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has dropped a strong hint that a decision on the Victorian border could be made this week. Meanwhile, Bunnings has announced its famed sausage sizzles will return to car parks across the state — this is when you’ll be able to pick up a fresh snag.
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The NSW Premier has said an announcement on the state’s border with Victoria could be coming this week.
Asked if NSW residents can expect news on the border issue this week, Gladys Berejiklian responded: “Potentially, yes.”
It comes as Victoria recorded another stunning milestone on Monday, recording zero new cases for the third day in a row.
The last time the state recorded three consecutive days with no new cases was in February, before the first wave began. There were no new cases announced during a four-day stretch between February 26 to 29.
The Premier said her government had a “good discussion” about how quickly the state could move to open the border and hinted there might be an announcement on Wednesday.
“The NSW government will move forward with confidence and speed,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Monday.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we moved quicker with Victoria than Queensland did with us.”
Meanwhile, Qantas is making moves to add two new destinations to its Mildura flight schedule, subject to borders reopening.
The airline is now taking bookings from December for its previously-announced service between Mildura and Sydney.
In an unexpected move, the flying kangaroo has also scheduled in flights to Adelaide, Mildura Airport officials say.
Melburnians are revelling in their new-found freedoms, with the city’s rolling 14-day average dipping below two and now standing at 1.9, with only one mystery case recorded in the city over the past fortnight.
The state now has 49 active cases, a drop of 12 overnight — and only one more than NSW’s 48 active cases.
Regional Victoria’s case numbers remain stable at zero.
It comes as NSW reported one new local case, becoming the first state to report a new community transmission since the entire nation marked no new cases on Sunday.
BUNNINGS SAUSAGE SIZZLES TO RETURN
The Bunnings sausage sizzle is set to make a return in regional Victoria from November 14 and Melbourne in early December.
The hardware giant suspended its community sausage sizzles in March when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
But the burners will be fired up again to “restart this weekend tradition” within weeks.
“Victorians have done such an amazing job flattening the curve and we hope bringing back sausage sizzles will be yet another sign we can reclaim a sense of normality while remaining COVID-safe,” chief operating officer Deb Poole said.
The sausage sizzles will operate differently under new safety measures, including separate ordering and pick-up points and increased cleaning and hygiene.
Members of community groups running the sizzles will also have to wear face masks throughout their shifts.
“We know our customers love to support these groups by stopping by the sausage sizzles and our store teams can’t wait to help restart this weekend tradition from 14 November in regional Victoria,” Ms Poole said.
“The feedback from community groups and customers in states where we’ve brought the fundraisers back has been phenomenal.
“The community groups have done an excellent job prioritising customer safety with the new physically distanced layouts and additional hygiene measures we have in place.”
ANTI-CURFEW LAWSUIT FAILS
Melbourne’s controversial curfew was valid and an appropriate response to the public health issue, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The high-stakes legal challenge to the 8pm-5am ban on Victorians leaving their homes was on Monday dismissed by Justice Tim Giannane who said the strict directions were justified to help curb the coronavirus crisis.
Small business owner and Liberal Party member, Michelle Loielo, had launched the court challenge in September arguing the curfew infringed on her rights, including the freedom of movement.
The curfew was scrapped on the eve of the Supreme Court challenge, but a trial went ahead to determine whether the restriction was lawfully introduced.
HOW MASK RULES WILL BE EASED
An end is in sight for mandatory face masks but only if Victoria reaches a crucial milestone.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Sunday said masks were still required while community transmission was occurring, but flagged transitioning away from “universal” mask wearing in future steps.
“What we shouldn’t be complacent about is thinking that if we’ve got a few days with no cases that there’s never a requirement for masks,” Dr Sutton said.
“Masks are very important for those potential transmission events when we don’t know that there’s something (active cases) out there,” he said.
Dr Sutton said masks were playing a “critical role” in reaching zero community transmission, adding they were a small price for Victorians to have “the summer that we want and the summer that we should have”.
“We will be transitioning from universal mask wearing to maybe indoors only, or to maybe just in high risk settings at the appropriate time,” he said.
The announcement came as the Dr Sutton hinted the State Government might be open to increasing the numbers allowed to gather when the next stage of rules is relaxed.
Under the government’s road map Victorians will take the last step to COVID Normal coming after 14 days of no new cases – something Dr Sutton hinted could be reached before the end of the month.
“It is absolutely not impossible and we’re on track for that in November,” he said.
“Twenty-eight days of no cases and no active cases we’ve talked about as the COVID normal step so that’s also within reach.”
Dr Sutton said the number of active coronavirus cases in Victoria would be “down to a couple of dozen active cases by next week” pointing to a relaxation of the rules next Sunday.
“What allowances come on November 8 will absolutely be informed by what this week looks like and so some of the details might change,” he said.
“We can always make consideration of what the caps might be in certain settings, what the density quotients might be in those settings and some of the specific industries that might come on board in terms of being able to operate.”
HOTEL SECURITY COMPANY RELIED HEAVILY ON SUBCONTRACTORS
A subcontractor employed to manage security at quarantine hotels has alleged the main company under scrutiny at the Coate Inquiry was nowhere to be seen during the early stages of the program.
He alleges that, despite being awarded a $30m contract and not being an approved supplier to the Victorian Government, the Sydney-based Unified Security was forced to rely almost entirely on subcontractors.
“Unified don’t have any security guards based here in Melbourne,” he said. “They have very minimal security staff. I don’t think it’s more than — lucky if it’s 15 or 20.
“So every contract that they have, especially with the quarantine, it was heavily reliant on subcontracting — and I don’t believe that they had a Unified person working on the hotel quarantine — 100 per cent subcontractor.”
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