Prime Minister Scott Morrison details pathway out of pandemic, no new Victorian cases
The number of people allowed into Australia on commercial flights will be halved under a plan from Scott Morrison to plot the pathway out of the pandemic.
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Australia will halve the number of people allowed to enter the country on commercial flights after National Cabinet agreed to state government demands to reduce the number of people being held in struggling hotel quarantine systems.
But Canberra has agreed to increase the number of commercial flights into Darwin that can use the quarantine facility at Howard Springs.
The cuts to inbound commercial flights will begin on July 14 and last until the end of August.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that breaches from hotel quarantine that have led to the current lockdowns across Australia had occurred predominantly as a result of infection control procedures and human error.
“So simply reducing the caps doesn’t necessarily provide a fail safe but because of the particular virulency of the Delta strain, it is believed that is a prudent action while we remain in this suppression phase of the virus,” he said.
The nation’s leaders have also agreed to immediately begin trialling a pilot study of alternative quarantine options that could see fully vaccinated travellers allowed to isolate at home.
Mr Morrison the move had been made possible because “there is clear medical evidence to suggest that vaccination means that shorter periods of quarantine is possible without any compromise of the health and safety standards that is currently delivered by a 14-day quarantine for unvaccinated persons.”
Australia will also move to establish a digital vaccination authentication system to operate at international borders.
Meeting on Friday morning after a week that has seen border closures and lockdowns across much of Australia, the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders have finally agreed on a road-map unlocking international and domestic borders once the national vaccination program is finished.
The news came as the eighth millionth vaccine dose was administered in Australia.
The ultimate aim Mr Morrison said was for COVID-19 to be treated like the flu.
“When it is like the flu, we should treat it like the flu and that means no lock downs,” he said.
The PM said the “good news for Australians who are subject to restrictions today is we have agreed a new deal for Australians on the pathway out of COVID-19 – a pathway from a pre-vaccination period which is focused on the suppression of the virus on community transmission cases to one that sees us manage COVID-19 as an infectious disease like any other in our community.”
He said National Cabinet had agreed to formulate a national plan to transition Australia’s national COVID response from its current pre-vaccination settings, focusing on suppression of community transmission to post-vaccination settings, focused on prevention of serious illness, hospitalisation and fatality and the public health management of other infectious diseases.
But authorities have yet to determine what level of vaccination will be required in the community before restrictions can begin to be eased.
“The post vaccination phase will be entered once we reach a threshold of vaccination to be determined by the modelling process we’re currently engaged in,” he said.
“This will be a scientific number. It won’t be a political number, it won’t be an arbitrary number, it will be a number that we can have confidence, means when you reach that level of vaccination in the population, which may include specific targets on vaccination of vulnerable populations, such as those over 70 and we are at 70 per cent now,” describing it as “a gate we have to get through”.
The Commonwealth has also agreed to extend the international freight subsidy scheme to ensure maintenance of essential freight supply lines by air, impacted by the reduction of commercial caps at international airports.
Mr Morrison said the decision to cut the number of commercial flights would come at a cost to the government.
“This is not a costless exercise: medicines, vaccines come in by plane,” he said.
“Essential freight comes in by plane. The Commonwealth’s decision to support this reduction in those commercial caps comes at a fiscal cost to Commonwealth taxpayers but we agree that it is an important part of managing this most virulent during the course of this suppression phase.”
Mr Morrison said lockdowns would be used as a last resort, under the plan.
“Managing your way through COVID-19 is uncharted waters. Anyone who thinks there is always a pathway that is without risk, that is without vulnerabilities, clearly doesn’t understand the significant challenge that all nations face in dealing with Covid-19,” he told reporters on Friday.
“Lockdowns in the current phase to be only used as a last resort was agreed today.”
The fourth and final phase of the plan was to get the country “complete back to normal”.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA LOCKDOWN TO END
The four-day lockdown in Perth and Peel region will be lifted at 12.01am Saturday, as planned.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan made the announcement on Friday after the state recorded one local case of coronavirus.
NORTHERN TERRITORY’S LOCKDOWN LIFTED
Greater Darwin and Alice Springs residents were out of lockdown by 1pm Friday.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner made the announcement after the territory recorded no new covid cases.
UNCERTAINTY FOR VICTORIANS IN QLD
Victorians planning to holiday in Queensland received mixed news on Friday morning as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a partial lifting of the state’s lockdown.
Brisbane City and Moreton council areas will remain locked down for an extra 24 hours, until 6pm Saturday, while other locked down parts of the state will be freed at 6pm Friday.
Ms Palaszczuk announced that the lockdown would end in a range of council areas including Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Noosa, Redlands, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Sunshine Coast, Townsville (including Magnetic Island) and Palm Island Aboriginal Shire, however restrictions will continue to apply for another two weeks including mask wearing.
But some restrictions in those areas will continue, such as mandatory mask wearing for another two weeks.
“This is our added protection at the moment until everyone gets their vaccine,” the Premier said.
There were three locally acquired covid cases recorded in Queensland on Friday.
Victoria recorded no new local coronavirus cases on Friday from 24,726 tests.
Meanwhile NSW recorded 31 new local cases from 76,000 tests.
BABY OF POSITIVE MINER CONTRACTS COVID
The baby of a South Australian miner who became one state’s first local Covid-19 case in 211 days has now tested positive.
South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier told reporters the man, who worked at the Northern Territory Tanami mine site where positive virus cases have popped up, might need another assessment in hospital.
“Unfortunately, the miner is still very unwell and he may be needing to go to the Royal Adelaide for another assessment,” Professor Nicola Spurrier said.
“My understanding is that the (infant) child remains clinically well.”
BUSINESS SUPPORT STALLED
more than half of all Victorian businesses who have applied for a government lifeline are yet to be paid a dollar in the latest round of recovery support.
The Herald Sun can reveal more than 63,000 businesses are waiting more than a month after dedicated support packages were announced to help businesses through the state’s fourth lockdown.
Businesses have been notified of delays, sparking calls for an automated system to immediately direct grants to affected businesses in the event of further lockdowns.
Of the 113,000 applications for support under the government’s business costs assistance program, 58,000 payments have been made totalling $271.5m.
More than one in 10 of all applicants of the licensed hospitality venues fund had been paid, with 8423 of 9500 applicants waiting for a resolution.
A Berwick cafe owner, who asked not to be named, was told to expect payment on Friday, a month after he was among the first to apply for a grant under the fund.
“I am really grateful for it, and don’t want to be seen as whingeing, but when you offer support like this you need to make sure there are processes in place to make sure it can happen,” he said.
A government spokeswoman said about 10,000 payments were scheduled to be made overnight.
He said on average payments were being made within 10 business days, and businesses were notified of delays.
Outcomes were often delayed by incorrect or incomplete information being provided on applications forms.
Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said businesses from a broad range of industries had reported waiting weeks for any payments to be made.
“For many of these hardworking mum and dad business owners, this was a double insult, not only was the promised grant disproportionately small compared to the losses suffered, they have now been asked to pay out costs for wages, rents and other liabilities, with all these outgoings paid with zero money coming in and not a cent received of the promised assistance,” Mr Lang said.
“From the beginning of this pandemic Small Business Australia has been calling for faster, fairer and direct support for business owners who are having their livelihoods turned off and on like a tap by the government and as we enter the era of the ‘preventive’ lockdown strategy, which will see business owners crushed by repeated lockdowns, the support offered to them must be substantial and immediate.”
Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lambert said the organisation was able to help any businesses experiencing delays.
“All of our members in the industry that were eligible for the funding, the majority have taken it up, and it certainly has been a lifeline during the long lockdown,” Mr Lambert said.
“We hope that if and when there is a future lockdown, that the Victorian government will jump to another business support package.”
Victoria Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Paul Guerra said the payments were critical to businesses.
“For those businesses still waiting on an application, we expect to see assessment and payments made quickly because these support grants won’t do any good until they are paid,” Mr Guerra said.
“Support payments would not be required, and public debt would not be further incurred if we could avoid lockdowns and restrictions altogether and that’s the ambition we need to have going forward. No more lockdowns. We need an adequate vaccine supply rolled out and purpose-built quarantine facilities to enable Victoria to open up with confidence.”
BORDER CHECKS FLAG 17 TRAVELLERS
Warning notices have been handed to more than a dozen people trying to enter Victoria without a proper permit.
Covid-19 Response Commander Jeroen Weimar said more than 2000 people were stopped and checked on the NSW-Victoria border on Wednesday.
Of those, 17 people were issued with warning notices.
“It’s very important that we ensure that people are carrying the right documentation and returning, under the right principles, and they know what they need to do,” he said.
Of 130 checks of Victorians subject to stay-at-home isolation orders, two cases were referred for further action.
Mr Weimar said authorities were comfortable with compliance levels across a range of Covid-19 measures including businesses using QR code check in systems.
Darwin and Alice Springs, southeast Queensland and Townsville including Magnetic Island and Palm Island, Greater Sydney, Shellharbour, Central Coast, Wollongong, and Perth and Peel regions are now red zones under Victoria’s travel permit system.
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