No new local Covid cases in Victoria; clock ticks for families stuck interstate

Victorians are still stranded interstate with less than a week until the new school term begins, with NSW set to made a decision on extending Sydney’s lockdown.

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Time is fast running out for Victorian families stranded interstate, as New South Wales and Queensland recorded more Covid infections overnight.

NSW recorded 18 new local infections — five who were in partial isolation, two infectious in the community — while Queensland had one fresh locally acquired case.

City of Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast remain designated red zones, along with Greater Sydney, which includes Central Coast, Shellharbour, Blue Mountains and Wollongong.

Victorians returning from those regions must self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning home and be tested within 72 hours of their return, and again around day 13 of quarantine.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is set to announce her decision on Greater Sydney’s lockdown on Wednesday, with authorities to decide if the Harbour City’s two-week shutdown will be extended.

A decision will be made on Sydney’s lockdown on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

Thousands of nervous families who travelled interstate are waiting for Victoria to downgrade its travel restrictions, with the school term set to begin on Monday.

But Premier Daniel Andrews said he did not expect Sydney’s red zone status to be downgraded “any time soon”.

It comes as Victoria recorded a sixth consecutive day without a new local infection.

There are 25 active cases, including two new infections in hotel quarantine.

More than 22,000 people turned out to get a test on Monday, but Mr Andrews said he wanted to see those figures continue to rise.

“The higher those numbers go, the more confidence we’ll have to ease the rules and to predict what the future holds,” he said.

“There’s so little cold and flu around, if you’ve got symptoms, you’ve just got to assume that you’ve got the coronavirus.”

RULE CHANGES EXPECTED THIS WEEK

Mask rules could be eased and footy crowds increased as early as this week with a further rollback of restrictions on the cards.

New acting chief health officer Dan O’Brien said on Monday talks were under way about easing rules on masks – currently mandatory indoors – and increasing crowds at sporting and theatre events.

Prof O’Brien said that while there was a strong argument to ease the use of masks in offices, he suggested they remain a part of efforts to reduce the chance of Covid-19 outbreaks.

He said while he understood the public’s frustrations, masks provided Victoria with an effective “safety blanket”.

“Masks do provide us with a really effective safety blanket,” he said.

“I think we’ve seen over and over again through this epidemic that they’re really effective and they save us transmissions, which save us from restrictions.

“So, for me, they’re an intervention I know that people don’t enjoy but I just remind everyone that they work.

“It’s really like a safety blanket, I think, to make sure that if there is virus out there, we’re not totally exposed, and we’re in a really much more serious situation than we otherwise would be.”

But the Premier wasn’t willing to give much away when pressed about masks in indoor workplace settings, only to say: “Let’s just wait and see where we get to in terms of where masks have to be worn.”

“We’ve always tried to be as proportionate as we can be. I know it’s not pleasant, people don’t enjoy wearing masks, they’d much prefer not to, but they do serve a very valuable purpose,” Mr Andrews said.

“If masks across the board stop that one chain of transmission that gets away from us, they’re absolutely worth wearing.

“I don’t think there’s a person in Sydney who wouldn’t swap with us right now. We’re wearing masks and that’s an important part of that.

“We’ll wear them in the settings that are most appropriate and hopefully we can ease those further over the next couple of weeks.”

Mr Andrews said he was confident restrictions will be eased as early as this week, but said an official decision was yet to be landed on.

“The government’s still considering the next level of rules and what we can change safely and what we can’t,” Mr Andrews said on Tuesday.

Some mask rules could be eased across Victoria this week. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“I’m certainly confident that Victorians are doing the right thing and getting tested when they have symptoms.”

Victoria’s planned easing of restrictions, including bigger football crowds, stalled last week as the nation’s coronavirus concerns grew.

AFL crowds – which were to increase to 85 per cent capacity – remained capped at 25,000 fans.

Theatre shows remained capped at 50 per cent capacity with a maximum of 1000 for each performance instead of being opened to full houses.

Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said it was unlikely there would be any changes around red zones in NSW and Queensland.

Mr Weimar warned Victorians in red zones to start planning to come home if they had time-sensitive commitments, including a return to school next week.

Anyone returning from a red zone must self-isolate at home for 14 days.

“At this point in time we’ve seen four new cases in Queensland … 35 cases in Sydney … there’s nothing in those numbers at the moment that makes us think we’re going to reduce those red zones soon,” he said.

Footy crowds could be increased as early as this week.

“We have no current indication as to when those red zones will reduce. So those are hazardous places to return from.

“Do not presume that we’re going to flick a switch in the next couple of days.”

Sydney, the Central Coast, Shellharbour, Blue Mountains and Wollongong, and the municipalities of Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick remain red zones.

In Queensland, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast remain red zones.

But the travel bubble with New Zealand reopened for limited Australian states, including Victoria, on Monday.

Tania, Cameron and Amy Butler were due to fly out last Saturday, but rescheduled amid the border chaos.

“Our family is excited to get across and hopefully all things will go smoothly, we just have to be flexible with our trip,” Ms Paterson said.

“We expected there were always going to be changes and added costs, we are just fortunate Victoria has opened up for a change.”

From Friday, Western Australia will also allow quarantine-free travel from Victoria.

GRAND PRIX, MOTOGP TO BE SCRAPPED

Victoria’s Formula One and MotoGP events are both set to be scrapped this year.

The state government is expected to announce on Tuesday afternoon that both major events will be suspended, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

With strict international travel and quarantine conditions in place, the logistics of bringing international teams to Melbourne for both high-octane events slammed the brakes on the tourist drawcards.

Reports emerged that a round in Portugal would replace the Australian MotoGP race on Phillip Island weekend.

The Australian MotoGP race, scheduled for October 24, is set to be scrapped.

The MotoGP is regional Victoria’s biggest sporting event, injecting about $30m into the local economy.

Cancelling the MotoGP is a blow for motorcycle racing fans eager for a home race for Australian Ducati rider Jack Miller, who has won two races this year and is fifth in the world championship.

Miller finished third in his last outing at the island in 2019 when 82,850 spectators attended a rain-affected event over three days.

Read the full story here.

Originally published as No new local Covid cases in Victoria; clock ticks for families stuck interstate