Victorian businesses plead with state government for reprieve as lockdown extension looms
Victoria has reached a grim milestone after 59 deaths and 81 new cases were recorded. Premier Daniel Andrews insists the state must open up safely and steadily while a new report claims we should push to eliminate the virus by the end of October.
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Victoria has marked its darkest day since the start of the pandemic with 59 new coronavirus deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.
The fatalities include two men and one woman in their 70s, one man in his 80s, two men and two women in their 90s and one woman in her 100s.
The number includes 50 people who died in aged care in July and August.
The record comes as the DHHS confirmed 81 new cases of the virus.
It’s the biggest daily death toll the state has seen so far, taking Victoria’s death toll to 650.
Victoria’s previous highest daily death toll was 41 on Monday, but the Premier confirmed a backlog in the recording of fatalities meant 33 deaths had actually occurred in the days prior to August 31.
Among Friday’s reported deaths were 53 deaths that happened prior to Thursday.
In the days leading up to Friday, each daily death count has included fatalities beyond a 24-hour period.
There are 329 Victorians in hospital, 20 of those are in ICU and 13 of those 20 are on a ventilator.
In Greater Geelong, there are now 38 active cases, two new since yesterday, Greater Bendigo has seven active cases, one since yesterday, and Ballarat has just three active cases - no new cases since Thursday.
There are 993 active cases in aged care, 297 active healthcare workers cases and 2060 active cases across the state.
There are 4369 cases with an unknown source, an increase of eight since yesterday’s report.
Why Victoria should brace for 40 deaths a day. Read full story here
PREMIER ADDRESSES VICTORIAN BUSINESS LEADERS’ PLEA
Premier Daniel Andrews addressed Victorian business leaders on the idea of opening up the state too soon, saying: “We will get to that COVID normal, but we have got to do it in a safe and steady and a lasting way. And that is what we are all working so hard to be able to achieve.
“And I’d take this opportunity to thank all of those leaders from both the union movement, from different community groups, and, of course, from every sector in industry and business across the state who have so effectively engaged with us right throughout this pandemic and particularly in a really intensive way over these last few days as we draw up a really, very difficult roadmap out of this.
In response to backlash from Victorian business leaders who are begging to be allowed to reopen, the Premier said: “I would ask every business leader, every worker, every person across the state, just to think about this — if there is someone in your family that you know has at some point had a heart attack and needed urgent care, had a motor vessel — motor vehicle accident and needed urgent care, had a stroke and needed urgent care, had a premature baby are needed urgent care, all of those services would be compromised as well if we are overrun by this virus.
“If we simply cannot meet the demand, not just of COVID patients — as critically important as they are — but it goes well beyond that.”
However, he acknowledged the pain businesses were going through.
“We are listening, we hear you but the notion of being open for just a couple of weeks, that’s not a decision I’m going to make.
“What that really says to every other Victorian — every other Victorian, is that everything you’ve given, everything you’ve sacrificed doesn’t need to count for something. It absolutely does. It absolutely does.
“The only thing that works here is to see this thing off properly defeat it and then lock in a COVID normal not for a few weeks but for many, many months.”
MORATORIUM ON RENTAL EVICTIONS TO BE EXTENDED
Treasurer Tim Pallas says the moratorium on rental evictions will be extended until March 28, 2021.
— Eligible residential renters will now be able to apply for relief up to $3000 — up from the previous amount of $2000
— Eligibility criteria have changed from asset holdings of $5000 to $10,000
— The current residential tenancies dispute resolution scheme will be extended until March 28, 2021
— Residential landlords who provide rent relief to tenants will be eligible for 2021 land tax relief and the existing relief for the 2021 and 2020 year will also be available to them.
Mr Pallas said: “It’s our intention to increase those asset holdings now to $10,000. So in practical terms that ensures that families do have a capacity to amass some funds, albeit relatively modest, you’d appreciate, the figure of $10,000 without seeing their access to that rent relief being in any way compromised.
“In August we announced that we’d increase the rental hardship grant to $3000 per eligible tenancy as of September 2.
“What we’ve seen is about 9600 grants worth more than about $23 million having already been approved and of course through these arrangements we will increase the class of people who are eligible to make claims for these grants.”
Mr Pallas said since the scheme began, Consumer Affairs Victoria had received more than 93,000 contacts from Victorians seeking assistance with their rental arrangements.
About 94 per cent of those contacts have been able to be resolved through the simple provision of advice and directing people into a negotiation process, he said.
CHO: TAIL OF EPIDEMIC CURVE IS STUBBORN
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton addressed the number of deaths, saying it was “the stubborn tail of the epidemic curve”.
“It’s an overall increase of 79 (active cases),” Prof Sutton said. “So still trending down in terms of the seven-day average but it is stubborn.”
He said there were about 300 active cases among healthcare workers.
“There have been probably 20 or fewer health care worker new cases each day that has come down significantly in recent days,” Prof Sutton said. “It is still too much.
“More than half of those are aged care-related but it has trended down both with a decrease in overall community cases but also with a lot of the work that’s been done through the health care wellbeing task force that’s looking at all of those things that can help to mitigate the risk in those health facility settings.”
When asked about plans to open up after stage four lockdown, Prof Sutton said: “We wouldn’t be happy opening up at 80 cases a day and with 10 mystery cases.
“We would need to have an ongoing downward trajectory to be satisfied with that.”
With regard to the lag in reporting of 100 historical deaths this week, Prof Sutton said: “The notifications of coronavirus to DHHS in Victoria is an obligation for medical practitioners and laboratories in Victoria so we have to reconcile those together”.
Premier Daniel Andrews clarified Friday’s fatality figures, saying six deaths came from Thursday, three from days prior and 50 took place from July-August.
“There needs to be, and we are reporting today, a greater alignment of information that is held by private aged care providers, Commonwealth authorities and state authorities and having them all together so that we can update the numbers and be as accurate as possible,” Mr Andrews said.
“That is what we are all working towards.”
Prof Sutton stressed that regional testing was important.
“I don’t want anyone to be complacent thinking they might not have the virus there.
“There is still movement across regional Victoria and people that get discharged or transferred from hospital in metro Melbourne and people who have to believe to regional Victoria for essential reasons.
“People need to be mindful of the fact that just because they haven’t had a notified case in their local government area that there won’t be one there.”
Prof Sutton said Victoria might get to 40 or 50 active cases by the end of the week.
“It might be higher but I can’t say,” he said.
“The modelling again suggests that it’s — should be — decreasing day-by-day by five or 10 each day and so we could get there but it’s really hard to say at this point in the epidemic curve.”
CALLS FOR PUSH TO ELIMINATE VIRUS
Victoria could drive coronavirus cases down to zero by the end of October, according to a new report.
The Grattan Institute report, entitled “Go For Zero”, said the state should aim to eliminate the virus in the community completely as it described NSW’s method of keeping cases at a manageable level as “dangerous” and a “yo-yo strategy”.
“The NSW strategy of seeking to keep cases down to a manageable level is also dangerous, because the longer the virus is in the community, the greater the risk of breakouts requiring lockdowns to be reimposed to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed,” the report outlined.
“That’s a ‘yo-yo’ strategy — the economy could be seized with uncertainty as businesses open, close, open, and close again.
It advised that Victoria should instead set out to drive community cases down to zero, which could take less than two months.
“Victoria could get to zero by the end of October, but only if the vast majority of the population adheres to strict social distancing measures,” it said.
Health Programme director at the Grattan Institute and co-author of the report, Dr Stephen Duckett, said restrictions should be eased back in Victoria when cases drop below 20 for five consecutive days.
Dr Duckett explained that the easing of restrictions “should be running on data and not dates, regardless of what the numbers are”.
“The public look at these news conferences every morning and we get told the number of new cases and we have no idea whether the government is going to say 65 is good or 65 is bad,” Dr Duckett told 3AW.
“We need to be actually getting the public onside and say we can see the end of this and this is how we define what the end of this means.”
DRAFT ROADMAP A ‘TOMBSTONE FOR VICTORIAN BUSINESS’
Victorian businesses are pleading with Premier Daniel Andrews not to send them to an economic grave as an extended lockdown looms.
The Herald Sun on Thursday revealed the government’s draft road map for easing restrictions had no reopening date retail, hospitality and entertainment venues — and they may only be permitted to throw open their doors when case numbers drop to an average of five a day for 14 days.
Small Business Australia said if the draft plan remained unchanged it would be a “tombstone for Victorian business”.
“The plan of the government is to stay in lockdown until the infection rate is at effectively zero, however long that takes,” executive director Bill Lang said.
“Such a strategy will destroy small businesses in Victoria and for those able, including large businesses, they will flee the state once the opportunity presents to avoid these continuing lockdowns and draconian measures.”
Mr Andrews on Thursday flagged the state’s recovery “won’t be guided simply by dates on the calendar”.
The Premier attempted to deflect scrutiny by claiming the draft road map was “out of date”, but did not dispute its contents and refused to rule out extending lockdown.
A senior government source on Wednesday night said the working document — which will be updated until a final plan is announced on Sunday — was largely in line with the government’s thinking.
Mr Andrews said: “I can’t rule out that we have to continue rules, I simply can’t. Everything is on the table.”
The documents also indicated a traffic-light system was in the works to explain how different industries could operate at different stages of the plan. Mr Andrews said extensive modelling was still being carried out, and final decisions on Victoria’s restrictions would be announced on Sunday.
“These are really challenging decisions to make, because the tolerance for getting it wrong is incredibly low,” he said.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said he was aware of the “internal working document” and that changes were continuously made to the plans, although “the themes are the same”. He added: “But we are not going to make any final decisions and we will announce on Sunday.”
Prof Cheng also refused to be drawn on a threshold for Victoria to ease to stage two restrictions — allowing retail and hospitality to reopen.
The documents suggested that in order to move to stage two, there must be a daily average of fewer than five new cases over two weeks, with fewer than three cases from an unknown source.
New South Wales recorded 12 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 17 on Wednesday but has allowed businesses to reopen with restrictions.
“We have been meeting late in the night deciding whether it’s 10, five, lower or higher,” Prof Cheng said of the Victorian plan.
Former AFL star turned restaurateur Paul Dimattina warned a longer lockdown would devastate hospitality businesses. “My grandparents moved out from Italy to move to a lucky country that was a democracy. We are no longer living in a democratic state,” he said.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Paul Guerra said businesses had not been consulted on the possibility of a longer lockdown.
“Victoria needs a plan for the future, not a plan to stay locked down,” he said. “Indefinite lockdowns, lack of information and cycling in and out of restrictions will lead to an avalanche of business closures and permanent job losses.”
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hit out at the state government’s consultation with businesses, and said a “fair dinkum road map” was needed. He said the “very drastic measures” in place were restricting Victoria’s economic recovery and having a major impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing.
“We want to have hope for the future,” Mr Frydenberg said. “You need to take business into your confidence … unless they have confidence they won’t hire people, they won’t innovate, they won’t grow, they won’t see their future in our state.”
HOSPITALITY
Restaurant and Catering Association boss Wes Lambert said: “To be viable at all, our industry needs limits of 20/50/100 (customers) then no capacity restraints in a reasonable timeline on predictable stages based on real levers, like NSW — a state where business is operating even with clusters of community transmission.”
REAL ESTATE
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria said it would be “extremely disappointing to see the industry remain with online inspections” in the coming weeks, instead calling for COVID-safe on-site auctions to be revived. “Lockdown is continuing to hurt consumers, the industry, and revenue to the government,” president Leah Calnan said.
GYMS
More than 50 Victorian gym owners are petitioning the government to allow them to reopen as soon as stage four restrictions are relaxed.
Gyms Coalition leader Tim Schleiger said gym owners were being treated worse than pubs and hospitality, with the draft road map showing they were “miles off from opening”.
“I don’t understand why the state government values alcohol and gaming over Victorians’ physical and mental health when it seems so obvious we are all struggling.”
BEAUTY AND PERSONAL SERVICES
Beauty and personal services could be, under the draft plan, forced to remain closed until stage one restrictions arrive, which Capel Cosmetics salon owner Claudia Chapelhow said was “ridiculous”.
“I understand the uncertainty, but it is really difficult for business owners, especially in a field that is already very safe and sterile. It’s just so disappointing that it could be extended and we could be closed for far longer,” she said.
CONSTRUCTION UNION BOSS DEMANDS WORKERS RETURN
Union boss John Setka has demanded Victorian construction workers be allowed to return to work in an open letter to Daniel Andrews.
Mr Setka wrote to the Premier and chief health officer Brett Sutton today arguing that the state’s 300,000 construction workers across all sectors be immediately allowed to return to work.
It comes following a week of consultative discussions with industry, unions and community organisations ahead of a planned announcement on Sunday detailing Victoria’s recovery roadmap.
However several bodies involved in the talks have raised concerns about the level of consultation, saying views have been ignored.
Mr Setka, the Victorian state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, said the implementation of extreme safety measures across the construction industry had protected workers.
“These procedures meant we were better placed than any other industry to continue working and we must be allowed to do just that — not only to protect the livelihoods of the 300,000 plus Victorian construction workers but to lead the recovery of the Victorian economy,” he said.
“The success of these safety measures is evident with the onsite COVID-19 confirmed commercial construction cases continuing to be at a minimum with only three cases in the past six weeks and zero cases in the past three weeks.
“As the backbone of this country, the 300,000 plus Victorian construction workers across all sectors must go back to work now.”
Mr Setka said onsite infectious disease awareness training, temperature checking and site mapping had been implemented on job sites.
Mobile COVID testing had tested over 18,000 construction workers with only seven positive confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“The onsite COVID-19 safety measures will continue to be an absolute priority, in the provision of protection for the construction industry and the community at large,” Mr Setka said.
In response Premier Daniel Andrews said: “I haven’t seen the letter but I know that a letter has been sent.
“I’ll look at that and we’ll have more to say on Sunday about all of those matter, not just in that sector but in many different parts of the workforce.”
— Shannon Deery
VOTERS DESPERATE FOR PLAN TO REOPEN
The overwhelming majority of voters in two federal Labor-held seats are concerned about the state of Victoria’s economy and want a plan for it to be reopened soon.
The survey of 4500 voters, commissioned by Liberal senator Sarah Henderson, found 77 per cent were worried about the impact of ongoing restrictions on the economy.
Eight out of ten voters surveyed said they wanted Daniel Andrews to release a plan explaining how the state could return to normal.
The seats surveyed were Gorton, in Melbourne’s west, and Corio and Corangamite in the state’s southwest. Reopening the economy was cited as the major concern in Victoria’s recovery.
“We desperately need to hear from the Victorian government and local Labor MPs on how they plan to open the economy and get people back into work,” Senator Henderson said.
“Of course the plan needs to be in a COVID-safe way that protects the health of Victorians and those in the workplace.”
“We now need the state government to work with business on opening up, getting people back into work and putting Melbourne and regional Victoria into a much better place and on par with the rest of Australia which is strongly rebounding.”
— Tom Minear
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