Rolling coverage: New Year’s Eve revellers warned to stay away from city
Those hoping to celebrate the end of 2020 have been warned to do so away from the CBD, while Sydney has held on to its iconic New Year’s Test.
Victoria
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New Year’s Eve revellers have been warned to stay away from Melbourne’s CBD on Thursday night.
As Victoria recorded its 60th day of no new local community transmissions of coronavirus Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said the advice was for people to avoid the city.
Ms Allan said only people with bookings at hospitality venues should head to the city.
However she said people wouldn’t face fines or police action, but urged people to use common sense when organising New Years Eve plans.
“The only people allowed into the CBD over the New Year’s Eve period are those who already have a booking at a hospitality venue,” she said.
“Do not go out and celebrate New Year’s Eve if you have symptoms, because it is only going to contribute to the spread of the virus.
“Even if you are on holidays and you do have symptoms, please do get tested at one of those 60 testing sites around Victoria … it is all part of keeping the community safe and holding on to those precious gains of no known local community transmission.”
Ms Allan said New Year’s Eve was an important time to practise COVID-safe measures.
SHOCK THIRD TEST VENUE CONFIRMED
Sydney is set to pull off a COVID-19 miracle, holding onto its iconic New Year’s Test.
In one of the biggest sporting shocks of the year, Cricket Australia officials have been able to navigate a way through the Northern Beaches outbreak to pull off the current schedule of third Test in Sydney and fourth Test in Brisbane.
Massive work has been done with the Queensland Government to secure exemptions for broadcast staff across the NSW and Queensland border to finish the series, but it does come at a cost, with players and staff to be put into stricter quarantine.
There have been stages over the past week, including the past 24 hours, where it appeared certain the MCG would take custody of Sydney’s Test and the SCG would miss out altogether.
But in a stunning result, the Sydney Test has been saved and organisers are hoping for 50 per cent capacity crowds.
PUSH FOR PRE-FLIGHT UK TESTING TO STOP SUPER STRAIN
Anyone flying to Australia from the UK should be subjected to mandatory coronavirus tests before boarding to stop further spread of a super contagious strain, according to the state government.
But the federal government — in charge of international borders — says it is not necessary, instead touting the strength of Australia’s mandatory quarantine program.
The US this week announced anyone flying in from Britain would be required to show they had tested negative for the virus.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said it was critical to do everything possible to reduce the risks until a vaccine was available, calling on Canberra to act.
Read the full story here.
‘DEPORT THEM’: NEW THREAT TO STOP SYDNEY COVIDIOTS
The Department of Home Affairs will now work with NSW to identify temporary visa holders who breached coronavirus restrictions in Sydney over Christmas, to potentially deport them from Australia.
NSW has found three new cases of COVID-19 from 16,000 tests that were recorded on Monday. They have been linked to the Avalon cluster on the Northern Beaches.
That cluster has grown to 129 cases.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the police presence will be increased across the city on New Year’s Eve.
She said the later cases found last night after 8pm are outside of the Northern Beaches, including a resident in Wollongong. They have not yet been linked to the cluster.
Read the full story here.
CALL FOR MEMORIAL TO HONOUR VICTORIA’S COVID VICTIMS
A memorial to the hundreds of Victorians who died from COVID-19 should be built as a place for families, friends and frontline workers to pay their respects, according to a leading grief expert.
The head of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement Chris Hall said the collective heartbreak experienced in Melbourne, especially during the second wave, was unlike anything the city had seen.
More than 800 Victorians have died during the pandemic — most dying without their families in aged-care facilities from June to August.
“People will continue to hurt long after a community has moved on to other things,” Mr Hall said.
“(A monument) provides a focus for the community in the same way a war memorial does.
“There is a sense, when it is safe to do so, that we should come together and find a way of acknowledging that this event has happened.
“It also provides a focus for people to take their pain.”
Smaller memorials at aged-care facilities badly affected during the outbreak — like St Basil’s and Epping Gardens — should also be considered.
“(It shows that) this death is acknowledged as significant and deserving of a ritual that says this person lived, and they were loved by others in their family and by staff as well,” Mr Hall said.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said she would support a monument being built somewhere in the city to remember the “devastating impact” the virus had.
“We would co-operate with proposals for an appropriate monument and welcome the opportunity to host such a significant and healing memorial,” Ms Capp said.
The City of Melbourne has approved such memorials before, including the fountain at Lincoln Square dedicated to the 22 Victorians who died in the 2002 bombing in Bali.
A spokeswoman for the Andrews government said: “The government will continue to consider any proposals that help our community rebuild and recover after a difficult year.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said every death should be remembered.
“A public memorial in a prominent place would serve as a commemoration of those we lost and a reminder of what we have all gone through together,” Mr O’Brien said.
The impact of the crushing second wave are still being felt across the city. The state government’s Anxiety Recovery Centre has had a 232 per cent rise in demand this year.
A further $200,000 will be injected into the service this week to support its operations.
The federal government has given the ACGB a contract to provide support and counselling to families.
The centre’s service can be reached on 1800 222 200.
Victoria recorded 59 straight days of zero community transmission on Monday. There were two new hotel quarantine cases, a woman in her 20s and a child under 10.
There are 11 active cases in Victoria. Ten are in hotel quarantine and one is a teenage girl isolating at home after contracting the virus in NSW.
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