Covid-19 Australia: Scott Morrison reveals new Covid disaster payment with plan to split costs
New Zealand has extended the pause on travel with Victoria, as Scott Morrison revealed a new lockdown financial support system.
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New Zealand has extended its travel bubble pause with Victoria after the state government decided to continue the Covid lockdown.
New Zealand Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the travel pause with Victoria would be extended a further six days.
“I acknowledge this extension will cause further inconvenience to those who have already had their travel plans disrupted,” Mr Hipkins said on Thursday.
“I also acknowledge that having been prevented from returning for almost two weeks, New Zealanders will be wanting some certainty around when they can start to plan to come home.”
New Zealand officials have assessed the risk as medium for Melbourne but decreasing for the greater Melbourne area.
Its government announced plans for the “carefully managed” return of travellers from Melbourne to New Zealand, from 11.59pm next Tuesday.
Flights will be limited to New Zealand citizens, Australian citizens normally residing in New Zealand, people with humanitarian exemptions and critical workers stranded in Victoria.
Mr Hipkins said officials were working on details of how seats would be allocated if demand for flights exceeded supply.
Anyone boarding the flights must record a negative pre-departure test taken less than 72 hours before departure.
The travel pause will be reviewed again on Wednesday, by which time the country’s health officials have determined the risk to public health of people returning from Melbourne will be low.
“The commencement of flights recognises that by then, people currently in Victoria will have completed 14 days in lockdown,” Mr Hipkins said.
“This reflects the equivalent time which might have been spent in managed isolation in New Zealand.”
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NEW COVID DISASTER PAYMENT
Scott Morrison has revealed a new Covid temporary disaster payment system to help struggling states as Victoria would “welcome” others sharing Pfizer jabs.
The Prime Minister said the new national framework would apply where there are lockdowns imposed by state, public or health orders in areas that are defined as a Commonwealth hot spot by the chief medical officer.
The support would start for periods of time where the lockdown has been greater than seven days.
The first seven days would be for state and territory governments to control.
“If a lockdown, as a result of a state public health order continues in an area that is also defined by the chief officer of the Commonwealth, then we will be providing support for payments for those affected and those affected areas,” he said.
“Now that could be a particular suburb, defined by postcodes. It could be an entire metropolitan area as is indeed the case in the Melbourne metropolitan area right now.
“Or even more broadly, if the chief medical officer was of the view that a hot spot encompassed an entire state jurisdiction. So the Commonwealth’s decision to provide that support will be based on the medical advice.”
The ‘temporary covid disaster payment’ will be made on a week by week basis and will be a payment of $500 for those who would ordinarily work more than 20 hours in a week and $325 for those who would work less than 20 hours a week.
It will be available to a person or Australian resident these are class permitted to work in Australia, who is at least the age of 17.
The period occurs from the date of activation for an area which has been locked down for more than seven days.
But there are more caveats to getting the payment which include:
*The person resides or works, all works in the area defined as a Commonwealth determined hot spot.
*The person was immediately prior to the state health water and Commonwealth determined hot spot engaged in paid employment and is unable to attend work and therefore unable to
*The person self declares that they would normally have worked in the relevant period.
*The person self declares a loss of income for the relevant period.
*The person will not be required to use annual leave but must have sufficient, must have insufficient other appropriate leave entitlements, including special pandemic sick leave and have exhausted those entitlements.
*So you don’t have to get into your annual leave but if your employer is already providing your lease for these types of purposes than it is reasonable that people would use those in these circumstances.
*The person self declares that they have liquid assets of less than $10,000.
Mr Morrison said he would look at how to fund this payment system at Friday’s national cabinet where the cost could be shared 50/50 with the states.
VICTORIA WELCOMES MORE PFIZER JABS
Victoria would “welcome” other states sharing their Pfizer vaccine doses amid a shortage in the state.
Deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said while they were still vaccinating with the jab recommended for those under 50 years old, there supplies were tight and he was “unsure” when more more would become available.
“We are trying to do the best we can with the supply we have,” Mr Cheng said on Thursday.
Asked if other states could share their Pfizer doses with Victoria, he said: “We would always welcome any state that wanted to give their vaccine to us, but that is a national matter.”
Mr Cheng said Victoria had a “small” Pfizer stockpile, but there had been a “surge in demand” with not enough supply to meet it.
It comes as Melburnians brace for significant restrictions to remain even once lockdown is lifted.
While it’s hoped the extended lockdown will end next Thursday, it’s unlikely life won’t return to how it was before the city shut down until the state records several days of zero Covid-19 cases.
“There will be no snapback,” government sources told the Herald Sun.
A government source also reportedly said that it was “extremely unlikely” Melbourne would achieve several days of zero cases before the anticipated end date of the lockdown.
While face-to-face learning could resume from the end of next week, bars, restaurants, retailers and workplaces will face ongoing density limits, football and event crowds will be capped and masks will remain mandatory indoors.
It comes as Victoria recorded two new Covid-19 infections on Thursday after more than 57,500 people turned out to get tested.
Victoria’s health department reported three new cases, but one of those infections was announced on Wednesday in aged care.
There are currently 69 active cases in the state.
Meantime, NSW has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 as Victoria continues to battle its latest outbreak.
The result, from 18,672 tests, comes after NSW Health revealed a confirmed case of Covid-19 travelled from Melbourne to a popular south coast holiday spot while potentially infectious.
The man went to Jervis Bay, Goulburn, Gundagai, Hyams Beach, and Vincentia with his family between May 19 and 24.
QUARANTINE ANNOUNCEMENT ‘IMMINENT’
A federal decision on a purpose-built quarantine facility for Victoria is “imminent”, with an Avalon location favourable, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says.
The Victorian government has proposed a new purpose-built quarantine facility on Melbourne’s outskirts and has asked for federal support.
Mr Frydenberg said the federal government was working through the details of the proposal, which it broadly supported, hinting a location near Avalon Airport was favourable.
“We have been working through the details of that proposal and we’ve said publicly that we’re favourably disposed and a decision is imminent,” he told 3AW radio on Thursday.
“This designated facility that Victoria has proposed for quarantine is over and above the existing hotel quarantine facility.
“Avalon does have some very positive characteristics to it, obviously being near an airport and that’s relevant in this case.”
An announcement on federal Covid support measures for locked-down Victorians may also be forthcoming later on Thursday.
“We’re looking at those decisions today. I don’t want to pre-empt details,” Mr Frydenberg said.
He added any relief would temporary and targeted.
SECOND AGED CARE RESIDENT GETS COVID
New details have emerged surrounding the case of a second resident who tested positive at an aged care facility in Melbourne’s western suburbs on Wednesday afternoon.
The man, who is 89, had been fully vaccinated and is asymptomatic, with arrangements being made to transfer him out of the facility.
It is the fourth case recorded at Arcare aged care facility in Maidstone, where two staff members and another resident have also returned positive results.
The second resident, understood to be a primary close contact of the first resident, returned a positive test on Wednesday afternoon and will be transferred to hospital.
Aged care services minister Richard Colbeck confirmed the case in Senate Estimates on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Colbeck said the man initially returned “what has described as an indeterminate test result” but tested positive after being retested.
Mr Colbeck said arrangements were being made to transfer him from the facility.
In a statement, Arcare CEO Colin Singh revealed the man lives in an adjacent room to the first resident to contract COVID-19 case, and further testing will take place in the facility on Thursday.
The first case, a worker, tested positive on Saturday, sending the home into lockdown.
NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR NSW
Western Australia and the ACT have imposed stricter rules on anyone who has visited an exposure site in NSW, requiring them to quarantine for 14 days regardless if they return a negative test result.
WA’s chief health officer Andrew Robertson late on Wednesday updated the initial advice, taking a harder stance against anyone who has visited an exposure site including the need for multiple tests while in mandatory self-quarantine.
Anyone who has recently arrived in WA from NSW or the ACT and has been to one of the listed exposure sites during the relevant times is required to get tested and self-quarantine for 14 days, and present for 48-hour and 11-day testing, Dr Robertson said in a statement.
“We believe any risk to WA remains very low. However, the situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to prevent any spread of the virus or community transmission in this state,” he said.
The stricter conditions came as new exposure sites in NSW were linked to the Victorian outbreak and after WA Health had originally asked people to get tested and self-quarantine until they received a negative test result.
ACT Health also ordered any resident who has visited an exposure site into self-quarantine for 14 days from the date they were last in the location, even if they receive a negative test result.
The locations were Jervis Bay, Goulburn, Hyams Beach and Vincentia, where an individual visited on May 23 and 24 while potentially infectious.
Residents of ACT required to quarantine need to seek permission to leave their residence.
Non-ACT residents who have visited an exposure site will need an exemption to enter.
“ACT Health is also asking ACT residents, who are not in the ACT, to seek an exemption from ACT Health prior to entering the ACT, so that we can assist you with your safe return,” a statement read.
WA Premier Mark McGowan told reporters the state’s hard border with Victoria would remain in place.
“Apparently someone who is positive has gone to some sites in NSW,” he said.
“We’ve now declared those sites as being a risk and any people who have been to affected sites are required to quarantine and be tested if they come to Western Australia.
“We don’t imagine it will be many people, if any, but that’s just a precautionary measure we’re putting in place.”
Under WA’s hard border rules, travel from Victoria is only permitted for exempt people including: certain government officials; military personnel; federal MPs; transport, freight or logistics workers; and anyone granted approval on compassionate grounds.
‘AN ABSOLUTE BEAST’: VIC LOCKDOWN EXTENDS
Victoria’s Covid-fuelled lockdown has been officially extended by seven days.
“We’ve got to run this to ground,” Acting Premier James Merlino said, fronting the media on Wednesday.
“The current restrictions remain in place for Melbourne for another seven days.” It means that from 11.59pm on Thursday, there will still be only five reasons to leave your home in Melbourne – shopping for food and supplies, authorised work and study, care and care giving, exercise, and getting vaccinated.
The travel limit for Melbourne will be expanded from 5km to 10km, for shopping and exercise.
The announcement came after Victoria recorded six new locally acquired cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the troubled state’s active case count to 67. The number of exposure sites increased to 351, while 51,000 people have been tested in the past day.
Mr Merlino announced changes to lockdown rules in regional Victoria, citing no positive cases in country areas.
He said the decision to extend the lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne depended not just on case number but the “type of cases”, including whether they were in a high-risk setting and linked to other known infections.
“There is no doubt the situation is incredibly serious,” Mr Merlino said.
“We’ve got to run this to the ground because if we don’t, people will die.
“And if that happens, it’s our most vulnerable – it’s our parents, it’s our grandparents, it’s Victorians with underlying conditions or compromised immunity, it is those Victorians who will pay the price.”
The state’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said the lockdown had been reviewed “day by day” and that the latest cases, particularly in casual settings and aged care, were concerning.
“We have seen an explosion in exposure sites and we need to extend it (the lockdown),” Professor Sutton said.
“We are neck and neck with this virus, and it is an absolute beast.
“It has been a rapidly moving virus and the transmission that has occurred in those high-risk settings has been very substantial.”
Melbourne residents who visited six shopping precincts in the past two weeks may have been exposed to coronavirus as Victoria’s list of Covid-19 hot spots grows to 351.
The alerts came after Victoria’s Covid testing commander Jeroen Weimar warned at least four of the state’s more than 50 locally transmitted cases had come from “fleeting” contact between Victorians.
“What we’re seeing now is people are brushing past each other in a small shop, they are going to a display home, they are looking at photos in a Telstra shop,” he said.
“This is relatively speaking, relatively fleeting. They do not know each other’s names, and that is very different from what we have been before.
“This is stranger to stranger transmission.”
Health authorities said more than 300 of those exposure sites had been connected to the City of Whittlesea outbreak, with concerns about shoppers who visited these areas in the past fortnight.
MAGIC NUMBER TO AVOID FUTURE LOCKDOWNS
A forty per cent vaccination rate could be the magic number to avoid future lockdowns, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Researchers who used modelling to predict the spread of Covid-19 in Mexico City found that if 40 per cent of the city’s population were fully vaccinated, that would offer a similar level of protection to lockdown restrictions, provided the vaccines were at least 80 per cent effective.
The team from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México also found that if vaccination rates were only at 30 per cent, rates of new infection would remain very low – but only if the vaccines had 90 per cent efficacy.
The research follows similar modelling undertaken by the University of Sydney in March, which found Australia would not achieve herd immunity using a combination of the Pfizer and Astra Zeneca jabs if vaccination rates only got to 90 per cent.
A 90 per cent vaccination rate would not rule out the need for some future lockdowns, but it would reduce the requirements for social distancing measures, Professor Mikhail Prokopenko from the university’s Centre for Complex Systems said of his research.
“The bad news is that the direct effect of having no herd immunity due to 10 per cent of the population not being vaccinated is that there will continue to be a need for social distancing regimes, such as a partial lockdowns,” Professor Prokopenko said.
“However, the good news is that once Australia’s hybrid vaccination program is rolled out, the need to comply with social distancing measures in the future will decrease. There will likely be small outbreaks, but vaccination of 90 per cent of the population will necessitate only a 30-40 per cent compliance with social distancing measures.”
NEW COVID FEARS FOR NSW
New South Wales has been hit with fresh Covid fears after a Victorian who was infected with the virus visited a string of venues in the South Coast and Southern Tablelands.
The Melburnian was on a two-day visit, and on May 23 and 24 went to Jervis Bay, Hyams Beach, Vicentia and the city of Golburn, Daily Telegraph reports.
He developed symptoms on May 25 once he was back in Melbourne, and tested positive to the Covid-19 days later.
“NSW Health has been advised … a confirmed case of COVID-19 from Melbourne was in Jervis Bay, Goulburn, Hyams Beach, and Vincentia while potentially infectious on 23 and 24 May,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“The person, who reported the onset of symptoms on 25 May and was tested yesterday, drove back to Melbourne on 24 May. Victoria’s stay-at-home measures took effect on 27 May.
- with Rhiannon Tuffield, Angie Raphael, Jade Gailberger, Melissa Iaria
Originally published as Covid-19 Australia: Scott Morrison reveals new Covid disaster payment with plan to split costs
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