Workers to give CBD in Sydney and Melbourne a wide berth
COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne will delay the return to the office of tens of thousands of CBD workers.
Renewed COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne threaten to delay the return to the office of tens of thousands of workers in the nation’s two biggest central business districts, with warnings from business leaders of further damage to the economy.
The Sydney Business Chamber estimates only 20 per cent of city workers will return to the office on Monday despite the end of the Christmas shutdown as companies continue to urge employees to work from home and commuters avoid public transport.
The Victorian government on Tuesday announced a review of a scheduled relaxation in COVID-19 workplace restrictions which would have allowed more people to work from the office.
The prospect of a slow return to the city sparked a warning from Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox that delays risked further economic damage.
“We risk destroying the economies of our major CBDs unless we can encourage workers and the community to safely return,’’ Mr Willox said.
“The vibrancy and attraction of our cities depends on people coming into city centres for work and social engagement. In the long term, the longer we stay apart the more damage will be done to our economy.’’
NSW, which had four locally acquired cases on Tuesday, has been battling outbreaks on Sydney’s northern beaches and in its western suburbs near Berala.
Victoria, which reported three cases, has suffered a renewed outbreak of community transmission from the so-called Black Rock cluster based around a Thai restaurant in Melbourne’s southeast.
It also emerged on Tuesday that the Australian grand prix in Melbourne could be delayed from its normal time in March because of strict COVID-19 restrictions.
Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville said public health was a key factor and how quarantine would proceed. “These conversations are ongoing, no decisions have been made,” she said. As NSW health authorities battled to contain the Berala cluster, which has grown to 15, thousands of residents across Sydney’s west were ordered into in self-isolation when an 11-day infection period was declared for a major Woolworths store in the area.
New threats also emerged in regional NSW, including Nyngan, Broken Hill and Orange, with health authorities racing to trace the steps of an 18-year-old man who visited the Berala BWS and later travelled to those areas without realising he was contagious.
The NSW government also announced Sydneysiders from hotspot suburbs linked to the Berala cluster would be fined $1000 if they set foot in the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the third Test.
Sydney’s northern beaches cluster has caused a collapse in movement in the city, even allowing for the holiday period, as major employers continue to advise employees to work from home.
“People are taking a cautious approach with a much slower return to work,” Sydney Business Chamber executive director Katherine O’Regan said.
“The CBD plays such a significant role in the economy. It’s 25 per cent of the economic value of the state so we do want to have a thriving CBD, and the workers play an important role in this.”
Figures from Transport for NSW shows public transport use in the Sydney CBD has dropped by half since December 20. Transport figures across the whole network are down 66 per cent compared with the same time last year. The public health order requiring employers to allow employees to work from home was repealed on December 14, with NSW Health encouraging people to return to work in line with COVID-19 workplace guidelines.
But major employers such as ANZ, National Australia Bank, Westpac, the Commonwealth Bank and Insurance Australia Group are still advising employees to work from home where possible, with a “staggered” approach to getting people back to the office.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation and make a decision about employees returning to the office at the end of January when we have more information from relevant government and health authorities,” an ANZ spokesman said on Tuesday.
KPMG figures, first reported in The Australian, this week estimated the northern beaches lockdown alone would inflict a $3.2bn cost on the economy through lost working hours.
In Victoria, the government has asked public health officials to review the proposed return to work schedule, set to begin next week. The Victorian public service was due to begin returning to the office on January 11, to a capacity of 25 per cent, moving up to 50 per cent on February 8.
For commercial offices, which had already commenced a return to work to a maximum of 25 per cent, that figure was set to increase to 50 per cent on Monday.
“Given the current outbreak in Victoria, linked to the ongoing situation in NSW, the government has asked the public health team to review these plans,” a government spokesman said.
Mr Willox said 2021 was shaping as “a very difficult year for employers and employees’’.
“We saw through 2020 a reluctance from many people to attend offices because of concerns over issues such as public transport, potential crowding on streets and getting into lifts,’’ Mr Willox said.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Jenny Lambert said a slow return to the CBD would significantly impact not only businesses which operated in the city but hospitality which operated on a face-to-face model.
Additional reporting: Joseph Lam
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