Phased return to work delayed a week as Melbourne deals with COVID-19

Thousands of public servants were set to return to the office in Melbourne’s CBD next week, but the COVID-19 outbreak has thrown a spanner in the works.

A phased return to work for thousands of public servants in Melbourne’s CBD has been delayed by a week.

Victoria’s public service was to begin a phased return to work for up to a quarter of the workforce from next Monday, with commercial offices also set to boost on site staff from a quarter to half.

But the state government on Tuesday asked its public health team to review the plan for the Melbourne CBD in light of the new COVID-19 outbreak.

Acting Premier Jacinta Allan told a media conference on Wednesday the changes will be pushed back, with more advice to come next week.

“This is so we can continue to monitor very closely the situation in both New South Wales and also respond to the known Black Rock cluster here in Victoria,” Ms Allan told reporters.

“We’re obviously keen to see no further cases emerge beyond those previously identified through the primary close contacts.”

People are again wearing masks in Melbourne CBD as the city deals with another COVID outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Public transport users are also being asked to register their Myki cards to help with contact tracing efforts.

“We have seen a small number of public transport services have been added to the list of exposure sites and another way to add to our contact tracing efforts and to give us another source of information is to be able to contact people who have a registered Myki card,” Ms Allan said.

Victoria recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 on Wednesday as more than 37,000 people got tested in the 24 hour reporting period.

Two new cases were also diagnosed in returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

There are 41 active cases of COVID-19 across the state, 28 of which are locally acquired cases.

Three locally acquired cases were recorded in the state on Tuesday, all linked to the Black Rock outbreak.