Rolling coverage: Changes in sight for mask rules after 15 days of no new cases

Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer says the state’s mask restrictions could change within a month but has urged Victorians to keep being vigilant, saying “this is not over”.

Victoria has marked its 15th consecutive day with no new cases of coronavirus and no deaths.

Active cases remain stable at three and one has an unknown source.

The state’s 14-day rolling average of new cases per day remains at zero.

There were 14,614 tests carried out in 24 hours.

Two Victorians remain in hospital but neither are in intensive care or on a ventilator.

There are no active cases among healthcare workers.

The total numbers of coronavirus cases over the course of the pandemic to date is 20,345.

An algorithm to mine historical coronavirus data has resulted in 515 “mystery” cases being reclassified from unknown source to contact with a known case.

Prof Cheng said the number of mystery cases had dropped to about 3700 after the new algorithm picked up new links to established clusters.

The algorithm is picked up through links in workplaces, residential addresses and outbreak locations and is an attempt to “clean up the data”.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said the data was from July and August and said analysing it correctly was key to knowing more about the virus for the future.

“We didn’t know the source then but we do now,” he said.

“We’re trying to get on a more preventive footing,” he said.

Sewage testing regimes remain in place across Victoria and aysmptomatic testing is being expanded.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng. Picture: Penny Stephens

Prof Cheng said a testing push had been rolled out in Hume and Wyndham LGA because historically these were the two areas with a lot of virus activity.

“It will give us additional assurance that there is nothing out there,” he said.

“As time goes on we’re becoming more and more confident that there are less infections out there,” Prof Cheng said, but he urged Victorians to keep getting tested.

“This is not over.

“If you’re unwell at all, please come forward for testing.”

Prof Cheng said he expected restrictions on masks to be changed within a month, but he warned Victorians not to “get ahead of ourselves”.

When asked if he believed Victoria’s roadmap should be brought forward as the state recorded 15 consecutive days without any new cases of the virus, Mr Cheng said it was important to proceed with caution.

“We’re coming from a place where there’s been a lot of restrictions to hopefully a place where it’s COVID-normal — there will be some restrictions but hopefully it’s fairly normal. “Really what we’re trying to do is step through that cautiously.

“The order of that depends on what’s easy to do and what restrictions can be relaxed that will have high impact and improve people’s lives.

“Masks, I think, still are things where, you know, everyone’s got their masks now and people know what to do and by holding that back a little bit means that we can probably open up some of the other things earlier.”

“It’s just about steps and the last big step was six days ago, we just want to make sure that’s all OK and pretty soon, we’ll be able to relax some of the others.

He added: “It doesn’t just depend on what’s happening in Melbourne but what’s happening in NSW. If the bubble still opens in New Zealand, then what happens there, as well.

“I would expect within the next month but the timing depends on the situation.”

Health Minister Martin Foley. Picture: Getty Images

FUNDING PLEDGE TO BOOST VICTORIA’S HEALTHCARE

The state government has pledged $120.9m on providing Victorians with more home-based healthcare, including cancer treatment, post surgical care and rehabilitation.

The funding will be allocated in the upcoming state budget and will be spent over three years to deliver hospital services at home as part of the Better at Home initiative, which is expected to free up around 160 beds in Victorian hospitals.

Of the investment, $102.6m will be spent on providing care in the home, including clinic appointments and chemotherapy, while $12.5m will be pumped into online based care through telehealth.

A further $5.8m will be spent on training staff, support and clinic redesign.

Health Minister Martin Foley said the focus on at-home healthcare during the coronavirus pandemic proved to be helpful for both healthcare staff and patients.

“This initiative is driven by patients and clinicians, it’s in addition to hospital based clinical care,” he said.

“This has been essentially demanded by patients and clinicians to deliver appropriate support and care and in many cases, better care.

“Monash’s results through this system in their maternity wing has seen better outcomes for mothers and babies.

Andrea Rindt, General Manager of the Women and Newborn program at Monash Health, said emphasis on home-based care throughout the lockdown was hugely effective for their maternity department.

“We introduced telehealth for pregnant women because of the pandemic. It’s criteria based - if women are suitable, they can receive almost all their care through telehealth. Of course if a face to face appointment is required, we meet that requirement,” Ms Rindt said.

“What we’ve seen as a result is better patient experience and family experience.”

She added: “We’ve done evaluations with the women and their families and they love it , they really enjoy being at home and receiving the care.

“Being in the comfort of the home is less disruptive to the family and it’s very interactive - although it’s online, you get to know the patient and you can involve interpreters and other family members in the appointment, as well.”

Victorian authorities are worried about people bringing in the virus from NSW. Picture: Simon Dallinger.

VICTORIA’S NEW BORDER CONCERN

One of Victoria’s biggest COVID concerns is people from NSW bringing the virus in when borders reopen, Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said on Saturday.

Victoria now has three active cases in the whole of the state, compared to 23 active cases in NSW, nine active cases in Queensland, and 53 in New Zealand.

“What we’re still concerned about are two things,” he said.

“One is that there may still be the potential for hidden chains of transmission out there — obviously that chance is decreasing as time goes on.

“And then, obviously, the potential from incursion of cases from outside, from New Zealand or New South Wales.”

BARRIER TO HOME QUARANTINE PLAN

The national medical expert panel has shot down plans for overseas arrivals to quarantine at home, despite Victoria’s quarantine inquiry recommending the change.

Scott Morrison said on Friday that commonwealth, state and territory health officers had decided home quarantine was not an option “that we can safely take on”.

“If we can find viable options then we’ll implement them but we haven’t been able to find any viable options that are safe at this time,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Morrison will travel to Melbourne on Monday, where he will hold talks with Daniel Andrews, including about when Victoria will restart its quarantine program to take overseas arrivals.

But it is unclear how that will progress after the inquiry — established after the virus escaped from quarantine hotels and sparked the state’s deadly second wave — recommended home-based quarantine for some arrivals, potentially with electronic monitoring.

Federal Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said that while some states would trial “bespoke arrangements”, there were no “large scale alternatives to hotel quarantine”.

“I think the reason has been outlined already about how dangerous the rest of the world is and how important our border arrangements are,” he said.

There are now 35,600 Australians overseas who want to come home as the pandemic worsens.

Mr Morrison said international students were at the back of the queue to ensure Australians were supported to return as soon as possible first.

It came as the national cabinet received Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s contact tracing report, which recommended a data exchange trial between Victoria, NSW and the ACT, the rapid rollout of pop-up testing sites to handle outbreaks, and investment in surge tracing workforces.

Dr Finkel also called on states to consider using a simple smartphone app for people to check in at hospitality venues, workplaces and other public venues, and for improvements to be made to better integrate the COVIDSafe app in the tracing process.

His report will be shared with incoming US president Joe Biden’s team to bolster their response after Mr Morrison held talks with the election victor this week.

OPPOSITION FIRES BACK AT LABOR’S VIRUS SUGGESTION

State opposition leader Michael O’Brien has lampooned the Australian Labor Party’s suggestion US president elect Joe Biden consult Daniel Andrews on coronavirus policy.

In a tweet on Friday night, Labor wrote to Mr Biden saying: “If you want to hear how to effectively stop the spread of #COVID-19 give DanielAndrewsMP a call.”

It came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the president-elect was “very interested in Australia’s success” in handling COVID-19.

Mr O’Brien fired back at the Labor Party’s tweet, writing:

“Sure Joe. 1. Say no to using ADF in hotel quarantine, instead say yes to untrained private security guards. 2. Cause a second wave, 800 deaths, pain and devastating lockdowns. 3. Develop amnesia, deny responsibility + throw your Health Minister and public servants under a bus.”

Sure Joe.

1. Say no to using ADF in hotel quarantine, instead say yes to untrained private security guards.

2. Cause a second wave, 800 deaths, pain and devastating lockdowns.

3. Develop amnesia, deny responsibility + throw your Health Minister and public servants under a bus. https://t.co/vq7rIu5uhu

— Michael O'Brien (@michaelobrienmp) November 13, 2020

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