Hundreds of desperate Victorians stranded across the NSW border were bluntly told the government’s help line was too busy to assist. Meanwhile, more major retailers have been added to Victoria’s list of exposure sites.
Victorians trying to get home from NSW have been hung up on after being told the government’s helpline was too busy.
An automated message on the health department’s coronavirus line said a high number of calls meant no one was available to answer before the line went dead, without giving an option to wait.
The botch comes as 1500 applications for border exemptions were received but just 117 approved.
Applicants have been warned only those with “genuine” reasons will be accepted.
“We will only be granting exemptions for people who put in genuine medical, emergency, family, hardship reasons to get back in,” Victoria’s COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said.
“There will be conditions applied to those individuals (including) mandatory hotel quarantine. I sympathise with the people locked out, but we have to take a view about what’s right for the wider Victorian community.”
The sudden border closure spurred an estimated 60,000 Victorians to rush home from NSW, some with just a few hours’ notice.
NSW recorded eight new cases of community transmission on Sunday. Two were household contacts of a case linked to the Avalon cluster, and five were linked to the Berala cluster in Sydney’s west.
The Berala cluster — linked to an airport transport driver — now has 13 cases, with concerns thousands more could have been exposed to the virus.
Masks are now mandatory in shopping centres, on public transport, in places of worship, hair and beauty premises, entertainment venues such as cinemas and other indoor venues like post offices and banks in greater Sydney.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt urged the Victorian government to have compassion for more than 1000 residents trapped in NSW.
It is understood the Victorian government will ensure families are home in time for the start of school at the end of the month, possibly tailoring quarantine and testing requirements for each family.
The DHHS said the hold up was partially due to ensuring “every single application will be individually considered to ensure the travel is for a reason the Chief Health Officer permits”.
“In the coming days we are increasing our coronavirus hotline staff to more than 270, many focusing specifically on exemption applications - and we are also investigating alternative contact options for those seeking an exemption,” a spokesperson said.
The departure of Victorian tourists has “devastated” the NSW communities of Merimbula and Pambula, which were looking forward to a bumper summer after the bushfire disaster last year.
Margie Duggan, of the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre, said visitor numbers were well below normal.
“There are people coming from other parts of NSW, but not Victoria — that was a bit horrific, all of them leaving, it was shades of last year,” she said.
The full impact on local businesses would be known in the coming days.
Jim Caldwell, of Reflections Holiday Parks in Pambula, said bookings had been “decimated”.
“We were full, we have about 50 sites, and we probably had about eight left, I suppose,” Mr Caldwell said.
He said about half who did leave intended to rebook, either later in the summer or at Easter, or next year. The rest had asked for refunds.
“It was a very surreal time; we went to the pub that night and watched the traffic down the highway, bumper to bumper,” he said.
Chris Pawlowsky, of the Shady Gully Caravan Park in Mallacoota, said it was “terrible” for NSW accommodation providers. “It’s a sad end of the year,” he said.
IKEA, KMART AMONG NEW EXPOSURE SITES
Among the affected areas added to the list of hot spots are Ikea Springvale on December 29 between 4-6pm, and Kmart Burwood on December 28 between 6.15-6.30pm.
An infected person also attended Federation Square on December 23 at 11pm.
Anyone who was on site during the timeslots are being advised to monitor for symptoms and monitor for symptoms and get tested and isolate if they develop.
Chants Summer Carnival at Lakes Entrance, which opened just over a week ago, was forced to close abruptly on Saturday night.
A case attended the carnival on December 29 between 7pm to 9pm, with people present onsite during the time frame told to get tested immediately and quarantine until receiving a negative result.
“Our staff are being tested and will stay isolated at home until we get the negative test result,” organisers said in a statement.
“We will remain closed until this happens.”
NEW WOES FOR STATE’S LONG-TROUBLED CONTACT TRACING
Victoria has again been forced to defend its contact tracing after a string of errors in reporting where people could have been exposed to coronavirus.
At least five Victorian venues took to social media at the weekend to alert patrons they may have come into contact with a positive case, with some reporting that they had not yet been contacted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The European Bier Café on Exhibition Street and Grape & Grain in Moorabbin were both forced to close their doors after positive cases were confirmed at the respective venues.
But delays in contacting businesses meant they were forced to do so without any official advice.
John Tei, owner of Grape & Grain liquor bar in Moorabbin, said a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant in Black Rock on December 21 with two family members.
He said he was a “little surprised” he had not heard back from the Department of Health and Human Services, as he and others entered self-isolation.
“I haven’t heard officially. I’m very much a novice as everyone is. We’ll just wait to see what happens,” he said.
“I’m sort of waiting for advice from the DHHS on how to attack, but at the moment from reading the website, I’m in self-isolation and so is all the team so I think we’re going to be that way for 14 days.”
“We’ve all been tested – I think four have come back negative so far,” he said, adding he was relieved he had received a negative test result.
Mr Tei said a staff member had tried calling Victorian health department without a response.
Asked if he would try again, Mr Tei said: “I don’t see a lot of point at the moment, having to isolate anyway.”
A winery in Strathbogie, near Euroa, was listed as an exposure site but later corrected to a venue in Lakes Entrance.
Jady and Greg Roberts, owners of Wonga Estate winery, said they were “not particularly happy” about the bungle, which sent the regional community into a panic on Saturday.
“We’re all questioning what (DHHS) are doing. I don’t understand how they got this so wrong,” Ms Roberts said.
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said “you get those errors” in attempting to release information as quickly as possible.
“The alternative is not to put it up at all,” he said.
“So absolutely, we have an option to say we will sit in a bunker and work on all these exposure sites and then release it in the perfect form seven days later. That’s not much point.
“So we will get information as we get it, as soon as we possibly can, because we want to be transparent, we want to people as much notice as possible about the potential risk out there.”
Deakin University Chair of Epidemiology Professor Catherine Bennett said any errors made by the DHHS about exposure sites needed to be corrected via social media so the public could be made aware.
“All the way through we have been saying the ‘smallest details matter’ with the virus,” Prof Bennett said.
“There is always a risk of human error. We need to be loud about corrections, if not, you really run the risk of people who were potentially exposed not getting tested.
“We are still showing some signs of not being as tight as we need it to be.”
Infection control expert Professor Peter Collignon, from the Australian National University, said Victorians should be “understanding” of the government’s errors in outbreak listings, but said changes needed to be highlighted.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the state government had “let people down” by not being better prepared and called for greater transparency.
“There’s no reason why this outbreak should get away from us, but the government needs to do its job better,” he said.
“We’re seeing the wrong information being provided to people who have returned to Victoria. I’ve been personally given examples by people who have been given late information by DHHS … wrong information about exposure sites being put up on websites … wrong information being provided to business owners. This just has to end now.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMimgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5oZXJhbGRzdW4uY29tLmF1L25ld3MvY2hhb3MtYXMtdmljdG9yaWFucy1zdGlsbC1zdHJhbmRlZC1hY3Jvc3MtYm9yZGVyLWFyZS1odW5nLXVwLW9uLWJ5LWhlbHAtbGluZS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzY3ZjBiMWMxZmYwZjNlMzRhY2VlMGRlNmI2NjIxZTlk0gGeAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmhlcmFsZHN1bi5jb20uYXUvbmV3cy9jaGFvcy1hcy12aWN0b3JpYW5zLXN0aWxsLXN0cmFuZGVkLWFjcm9zcy1ib3JkZXItYXJlLWh1bmctdXAtb24tYnktaGVscC1saW5lL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvNjdmMGIxYzFmZjBmM2UzNGFjZWUwZGU2YjY2MjFlOWQ_YW1w?oc=5
2021-01-03 20:19:34Z
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