12 new cases, one death; Jenny Mikakos resigns over botched hotel quarantine program
Daniel Andrews has conceded that Melbourne’s daily COVID-19 case are dropping “a little faster” than he ever thought, with the Premier hinting that the state could move to the next phase of the planned road map quicker than originally planned.
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Victoria has recorded 12 new coronavirus cases and one death in the past 24 hours.
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day case average has dropped to 23.6, with the Premier set to announce the “safe steps” out of lockdown on Sunday.
Regional Victoria’s 14-day case average remains at 0.8.
Among the 12 cases recorded on Saturday, five are linked to known outbreaks and seven are under investigation. One case has been reclassified. A further two cases were linked to an outbreak in Dandenong.
There are 444 active cases across the state. This includes 10 cases in regional Victoria, 72 in healthcare workers, 231 linked to aged care and four in disability settings.
The one death overnight takes the toll to 782.
There are 59 people fighting coronavirus in hospital, including nine in ICU and five on a ventilator.
The target for Melbourne to move to the next phase of the planned road map was to have a 14-day case average between 30 and 50.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed numbers have dropped quicker than he expected and would announce details on Melbourne’s easing of restrictions on Sunday.
“We are consistent with the types of easing that have been foreshadowed in that road map, so there’s no dramatic departure from that, but there are a couple of areas where we say and do more, and we will finalise those this evening, and we will be able to talk about those tomorrow.
“I do hope tomorrow to be able to talk a little bit more about what October looks like and the fact that we are ahead of schedule.
“Ultimately, we are getting these numbers down, they are coming down perhaps a little faster than what we thought,” Mr Andrews said.
“That is a credit to every single Victorian who is staying the course, doing the right thing, following the rules, and is, just as I am, determined to find that COVID normal and that are still a few weeks away,”
“Today is not the day to make announcements, there will be meetings today and into the evening to finalise those details about what the next steps can be safely taken.”
DAN BREAKS SILENCE ON MIKAKOS RESIGNATION
Daniel Andrews described Jenny Mikakos’ resignation as the “appropriate course of action” and thanked her for her efforts.
“I want to thank her for her dedicated service, for all her hard work, she is a very hardworking person and I’m grateful to her for her efforts.”
“I did not speak with the minister before she resigned. I have not spoken to her since.
“She sent me a text. She has resigned. She is no longer a minister.
When asked about if she was accountable about being responsible for the second wave, Mr Andrews refused to comment.
“I’m not getting into that sort of commentary, if you were to draw that conclusion, that is a matter for you.”
When also asked if anyone else had to resign Mr Andrews said the “ultimate accountability” is with him.
Mr Andrews confirmed Martin Foley was asked to be the new Health Minister and will be sworn in later today.
There are reports Western Metropolitan MP Ingrid Stitt could replace Ms Mikakos in cabinet. Ms Stitt is the former Australian Services Union Victorian secretary.
ANDREWS DEFENDS MIKAKOS’ CRITICISM OF HIM
Mr Andrews said Ms Mikakos was “free to have a view” on the bungled program but wouldn’t be drawn on questions about their relationship.
“She is free to make comments, free to have a view, and with respect, I am free and it is appropriate for me to wait for the findings of the board of inquiry, that is a very important process and that is one that is not yet finished. It will be finished soon.”
Mr Andrews said he was not in a position to speculate about what Ms Mikakos meant when she said she strongly disagreed with some of the evidence given by the Premier at the hotel quarantine inquiry.
“The minister’s statement doesn’t provide detail. She makes comment. I’m not in a
position to speculate on what she’s referring to you. All I can say is I appeared yesterday, and I provided a statement. I did so on – under — oath. And I can’t comment on what she’s referring to.”
ANDREWS REFUSES TO RESIGN, SAYS PARTY IS UNITED
Mr Andrews has continued to ignore calls for his resignation and remained coy on whether he would resign after inquiry findings are handed down.
“I don’t run from problems and challenges. I’ve got a very important job to do, which is to continue to get these case numbers down and then to begin the biggest recovery project that our state has ever seen.
“I don’t run from challenges, I’ve got a very important job to do, and I’m going to get it done.
“We are going to have not only a situation where we can make announcements tomorrow – then, the trajectory that we are on, through the hard work of Victorians, we will be able to take further steps next month.
“We will be able to find that COVID normal and then we will hand down a budget later this year that will have the biggest, the most significant program of investment that this state has ever seen.
“What I will do after the board of inquiry’s report has come down is I will take the action necessary to ensure these sorts of errors can never happen again.”
Mr Andrews also refuted claims his party was fractured, saying it was focused on defeating the second wave.
“We are beginning the biggest repair and rebuilding agenda this state has ever seen, and we’ve had the governor of the reserve bank, the federal Treasurer, the Prime Minister, the head of the federal Treasury as well as making comments about the need for states to do more. We will do more.”
ANDREWS WON’T POINT FINGER ON QUARANTINE DEBACLE
Mr Andrews said it wasn’t appropriate to comment on who was responsible for the hotel quarantine debacle.
“There is an inquiry set-up and it is not appropriate.”
RESTRICTION EASING ‘NEEDS TO BE FAST-TRACKED’
The state opposition has demanded a fast-tracked easing of restrictions that would see all kids back at school and Melbourne’s curfew dropped immediately.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien on Sunday unveiled an alternate plan to the government’s road map recovery.
“Victorians are desperate for a plan to get our lives back but all we get from Daniel Andrews are plans to keep Victorians locked up,” he said.
“Victoria can re-open safer and sooner under our plan.
“It is time for Victorians to have hope for the recovery of our state.”
He called on Daniel Andrews to immediately drop the daily curfew and let all students return to school from the first week of Term 4.
Restrictions on businesses and industry in metropolitan Melbourne would also immediately jump to the third step of the Premier’s recovery road map.
General retail of all sizes including restaurants and cafes would be permitted to operate subject to density rules.
And weddings, funerals and religious services would proceed subject to density requirements and COVID-safe plans.
Mr O’Brien called for the singles social bubble to be expanded to households and for junior sport and non-contact community sport including golf to be allowed.
The Mornington Peninsula and the areas of the Yarra Ranges outside of suburban Melbourne should also be treated as regional Victoria, he said.
Mr O’Brien said leading modellers had criticised Mr Andrews’ restrictions as “too stringent”.
VICTORIANS WANT HEADS TO ROLL OVER QUARANTINE FAILURES
It comes as government ministers responsible for the bungled hotel quarantine program should resign, according to a new survey.
More than half of Victorians surveyed want heads to roll over the failed program that has been blamed for sparking Victoria’s deadly second wave.
Jenny Mikakos announced her resignation as health minister on Saturday morning.
The Institute of Public Affaris poll, of more than 1,000 Victorians, found Victorians want Daniel Andrews and his government to accept responsibility for the hotel quarantine debacle.
It also found a majority Victorians believed the government mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic.
More than half, or 54 per cent, of respondents said ministers responsible for the program should resign, while one in five people disagreed.
A quarter of respondents had no view.
Daniel Andrews told the inquiry into the bungled quarantine scheme on Friday that Ms Mikakos was ultimately responsible for the program.
Asked whether the government had mishandled the pandemic, 48 per cent said they agreed, while 32 per cent disagreed.
One in five respondents had no view.
IPA director of communications Evan Mulholland said the poll made it clear Victorians wanted the government to accept responsibility for “the greatest failure of public administration in Australia’s history”.
“The lockdowns brought about by government incompetence have smashed small businesses, young Victorians, and those in the private, productive parts of the economy, while public servants and bureaucrats have received pay rises,” Mr Mulholland said.
“The Westminster system of government under which we operate means that ultimately, it is ministers who take responsibility for the actions of their office and the public service.
“The Andrews government has disfigured Victoria with more lockdowns to deal with the second wave unleashed by his catastrophic ineptitude with hotel quarantine and contact tracing. Someone has to accept responsibility for the irreparable damage this has caused.”
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said called for a widespread resignation of ministers including the Premier.
“Victorians deserve better than lies and cover-ups from a Premier whose second wave of COVID-19 has killed over 750 people and cost thousands of jobs,” he said.
“Our communities and state economy have been crippled by the second wave.
“Andrews has failed his most fundamental duty to the people of this state. He must go.”
QUICK GAME OF POKÉMON GO TURNS COSTLY
A trio playing Pokémon Go in a Casey reserve, more than 5kms from their homes, are among the 82 restriction rule-breakers to be fined.
In the past 24 hours, 26 people were fined for breaching curfew, 10 were at vehicle checkpoints and eight were for failing to wear a face covering.
ANDREWS FLAGS POTENTIAL FOR EARLY RELIEF
Restrictions due to be eased in Melbourne at the end of October could be brought forward if infections continue to rapidly fall, Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged.
But authorities are closely following cases in the city’s southeast, with five of the state’s 14 new cases recorded in the cities of Dandenong and Casey.
Another eight people were added to Victoria’s death toll on Friday.
Asked what restrictions would be eased this Sunday, Mr Andrews warned major steps were unlikely.
But he said the current numbers meant Victoria was ahead of schedule compared to when he first announced the road map to recovery.
“We are very confident that we can take some safe steps,” he said. “The road map never envisaged really significant steps at the 28th but we are on track.
“I do hope to be able to talk a little bit more about how I think October will unfold and maybe give people some clarity around, because we are ahead of schedule, what might be possible.
“In the next month, as we move towards that next trigger point that may be able to occur sooner.”
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day average has dropped to 25.1 and regional Victoria has fallen to 0.8. There have been 34 cases with an unknown source in Melbourne over the past 14 days, while regional Victoria has not recorded a case over the same time period.
Friday’s new cases included two people who are registered as living in regional Victoria.
But these infections were picked up in Melbourne and they have not left the city since, with the results not included in regional Victoria’s figures.
Of the 14 new cases recorded, nine were linked to existing outbreaks including aged care homes and Dandenong Police Station.
Mr Andrews said it was not yet clear if any new cases in the southeast could be linked back to a Hallam outbreak.
But he welcomed news that labs had processed 12,460 test results over 24 hours.
“That is another strong number,” he said. “Any symptoms at all, please get tested. Don’t put it off for a day
“We have got to keep the test numbers up so that the numbers that we get every day, as best as possible, are a true reflection of how much virus is out there in the Victorian community.”
ANDREWS ‘SORRY’ FOR HOTEL QUARANTINE FAILINGS
FAILED PROGRAM COST GREATER THAN TAXPAYER FUNDS