Coronavirus updates LIVE: Victoria emerges from hard lockdown as Australian Open welcomes back crowds - The Sydney Morning Herald

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Summary

Victoria’s five-day, hard lockdown has ended and greater Melbourne is no longer considered a COVID hotspot. Residents are now free to travel more than five kilometres from their homes and the four reasons for leaving home have been revoked, but some restrictions on public and private gatherings remain.
Victoria recorded no new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, for the first time since February 9. NSW recorded no new local cases for the 31st day in a row on Wednesday and Queensland recorded its 41st straight day of zero cases.
Debate rages among scientists over whether a nebuliser really was the source of Victoria’s Holiday Inn outbreak, as the Andrews government has suggested. Meanwhile, the man blamed for spreading the virus by using the nebuliser is pushing for an independent review of his case.
More than 35,000 of Sydney’s frontline workers will roll up their sleeves to receive a COVID-19 vaccine within just three weeks from Monday.
Visit our new vaccine tracker, which shows how many people around the world have been vaccinated so far and which countries are leading the charge.

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Front pages of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald

In today’s Age exacerbated Victorian business leaders are calling for clarity about future lockdowns in the state.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said this week’s lockdown left a “bad taste” with his members in Victoria who had endured longer shutdowns in 2020 than retailers in any other state.

“We can’t continue to run businesses like a light switch; turning off and then on again, so this needs to be sorted out,” Mr Zahra said. “So we’re advocating strongly for a national framework, that would at least be consistent.”

‘More lockdowns than Rocky movies’: Businesses reeling after latest Victorian shutdown

By Erin Pearson

The lockdown is over and kids are heading back to school, but Victorian businesses are reeling this morning.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, Paul Guerra, says this week’s lockdown “knocked a lot of businesses just completely out of the park”.

“No-one saw it coming and then all of a sudden we’re in lockdown,” Mr Guerra told the Today show.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra.Credit:Wayne Taylor

“[In] Victoria we’re nudging towards more lockdowns than Rocky movies. That’s not a good thing for anybody in this state. It destroys confidence and destroys ability to get going.”

Mr Guerra urged Victorians to get out and support businesses with the Labour Day weekend and then Easter just a matter of weeks away.

“We know it will continue to be bumpy until a vaccine is fully rolled out. We will live with a virus for a while. Let’s wrap our arms around each other support the local businesses, support each other and as we get confidence let’s get on and being one Australia again.

“Businesses are waking up today, dusting themselves off as you said, breathing a sigh of relief. We’ve just got to get on with it now, but we can’t keep having brick walls thrown up in front of businesses as we try to recover.”

$2.3b in household spending lost or postponed in Victorian lockdown: Ai Group

The Australian Industry group believes some $2.3 billion in household spending was lost or postponed during Victoria’s hard lockdown.

“Businesses will only cautiously welcome the end of the latest Victorian lockdown given the ongoing possibility of future snap state closures and continuing quarantine failures,” said Ai group’s Victorian boss Tim Piper.

“It is clear that testing and tracing were the keys to resolving this potential outbreak, and not the lock-down which was disproportionate to the risk.”

All retail shops were closed during the five-day lockdown.Credit:Wayne Taylor

Cara Devine, manager of Melbourne bar Bomba which reopened at midnight as soon as the lockdown ended, says it’s been a particularly hard week for casual workers.

“People in casual jobs, nothing has been given to them for this lockdown, so five days off work could mean that they can’t make their rent this month and I think that needs to be addressed at some point,” she told radio station 3AW.

The state’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says there are no guarantees Victoria won’t be plunged into a ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown again.

‘Catastrophic’: Cafe owners counting the cost of lockdown

At Prahran’s Reverie cafe, in Melbourne’s inner-east, this morning the croissants have just come out of the oven, but chef Pierrick Boyer is counting the costs of the five-day lockdown.

Boyer says he lost $20,000 over the last three days. “Because we had to pay for the cost of food, labour - and also the minute warning, it wasn’t great,” he told the Today show.

Pierrick Boyer in Prahran.Credit:Simon Schluter

“Last minute we had to cut the roster. We had to close all the stores for the last three, four days. Catastrophic.”

Now we wait: 3400 Victorians in isolation for 14 days

By Rachael Dexter

The hard lockdown may have ended, but thousands of people potentially exposed to the virus as a result of Victoria’s Holiday Inn outbreak are still self-isolating. We won’t be completely in the clear until next Friday when the incubation period will end for the majority of those people, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says.

Here’s a quick reminder of the numbers involved in containing the Holiday Inn outbreak in Melbourne, courtesy of the Department of Health:

There are about 3400 people in isolation right now.
There are 59 household and primary close contacts of people infected with the virus.
There are now more than 40 public and private exposure sites.
There are now 1312 primary close contacts linked to exposure sites.
All 10 primary close contacts identified at Glenroy Central Kindergarten have tested negative.
83 of the 87 primary close contacts at the Goodstart Early Learning Centre also in Glenroy have also tested negative. The remaining five results were expected by the end of Wednesday.
103 of the 130 primary contacts linked to two mental health facilities in the northern suburbs have since tested negative, with the rest expected soon.
279 of the 340 primary close contacts connected to swimming pools at Oak Park and Pascoe Vale have also tested negative.
Most of the 138 primary close contacts linked to the Queen Victoria Market have been tested. Their results were expected by the end of Wednesday.

Remember, all those who are considered a primary close contact are required to stay in isolation for 14 days, regardless of their initial test result.

New rules after lockdown in Victoria

Victorians are embracing life after lockdown, once again, this morning. Residents can travel more than five kilometres from their homes. Schools are reopening. Shops are reopening. But masks are still mandatory in indoor public places and there are restrictions on gatherings and home visitors.

Here’s a quick summary of the new rules:

Welcome to today’s coverage

Victorians are waking up to new (old) freedoms after the state’s five-day, ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown and crowds are set to return to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open.

I’m Marissa Calligeros and I will bring you the latest coronavirus updates for much of the day.

Here is a quick look at where we start the day:

The Australian Open will return to approximately 50 per cent capacity from Thursday, with nearly 7500 people allowed into Melbourne Park per session.
Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT have lifted travel restrictions for Victorians. But anyone wanting to travel to Western Australia or Queensland from Victoria is still required to quarantine for 14 days.
Tourism Australia boss Phillipa Harrison has urged governments to accept a higher risk threshold of COVID-19 and learn to live with the virus as the travel industry nervously eyes the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy in March.
Business leaders have called for clarity on the triggers for and nature of any future lockdowns, citing concerns about the damage to people’s livelihoods and fraying relations with the Victorian government.
Sydney commuters may soon have to ignore coronavirus social distancing measures during peak hour as the government anticipates a surge in public transport patronage of close to 70 per cent pre-pandemic levels.

Catch up on yesterday’s key developments here: As it happened - Victoria lockdown will lift from midnight as state records zero COVID-19 cases; AstraZeneca boss says vaccine safe for over-65s

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2021-02-17 21:08:00Z
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