We should absolutely acknowledge that [lockdown] was bad and a lot of people suffered, but a lot of people are also alive now because of it, she says. But of course we are not living in normal times, everything, including the flu, is now politicised. Victorians are anxiously waiting to see if they will be plunged into yet another lockdown, as the state government weighs fresh restrictions amid a worrying rise in Covid-19 cases brought in from NSW. Victoria recorded eight new cases on Wednesday, seven of them linked to a returned family and a crew of removalists, who both came into the state from NSW. Density limits of one person per 2 square metres will be introduced indoors at hospitality venues and entertainment venues. Time Out rebrands as Time In worldwide to bring our readers ways to connect with their cities and support urban culture without leaving home. Victoria's health minister hasn't ruled out mask mandates or work-from-home rules after the state's pandemic powers were extended for another three months. As the Covid years continue we are losing our magical thinking it will go away and not be a changing burden to our life, she says. Highpoint shopping centre has also emerged as an exposure site, with anyone who attended between on Friday night between 10am and 2pm urged to get tested. Life is about to get very difficult for the unvaccinated, Active Cases: serious or critical: 269 (0.1%). Mr Foley said "such high levels of transmission" meant Victorians had to "coexist" with the virus. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. are permitted to leave the ship in Sydney without being tested for Covid-19. On Thursday the NSW premier will announce the policy reversal following Covid crisis talks with fellow state leaders and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. It's quieter on our roads, butthe timing of an Omicron wave during the state's summer holidays can make the picture complicated. Catherine Bennett receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund. My husband is working overtime, heaps of chefs and [front-of-house staff are] unwell or close contacts, and there is no support. This is clearly one of the biggest failures of the Victorian public health response to the pandemic, and was the catalyst for the devastating second wave in Victoria. Until today I had not thought that that was a serious option, now Im reconsidering. Sydneysiders who live alone are permitted to establish a 'single's bubble' with a friend. The ship is later linked to up to 900 infections of Covid-19. Premier Gladys Berejiklain said its "very difficult" to compare the current situation in Sydney to the situation experienced by Melbourne last year. Many lessons have been learned about engaging the diverse communities of Victoria. Today the state reported nearly 22,000 new infections, but the true number is likely much higher. Published: 01:28 GMT, 23 December 2021 | Updated: 03:32 GMT, 23 December 2021. For the most vulnerable people, the only way to manage this risk is to retreat. It would have been so easy to lose hope and stop complying with the tough restrictions en masse, especially as Victorians navigated their way through lockdown six, arguably the toughest to endure. She still cant smell or taste anything and several of her friends remain unwell. Its relentless. I know and understand that this is challenging and there is no family that has not been touched by that over the last few years and certainly many touched by that over the last few weeks and months, he said. Nonetheless, Friday's Google mobility data, which compares activity to a pre-pandemic baseline of several weeks over January and February in 2020, showed retail and recreation activity in the City of Melbourne falling62 per cent below the baseline. Mr Weimar revealed on Wednesday that the removalists were in Melbourne on a workers' permit but that they did not wear masks inside the apartment building. Cooper says she felt significantly safer when Melbourne was in lockdown and finds the argument that people should get over their concern about a global pandemic incredibly invalidating. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Melbourne has endured the world's longest cumulative time in lockdown, . It now feels as though it is going to define parts of my life trajectory where I was hoping it wouldnt, she says. In the early part of the pandemic, the amount of effort needed to reach these groups was underestimated. Melbourne COVID testing centres have been busy.Scott McNaughton Mr Morrison said on Tuesday that Australia would not go back into lockdowns, but a recommendation from the country's chief health officers for using masks in indoor settings was "very sensible". Lydia Napoli also works in hospitality in NSW. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the number NSW health officials are concerned about is how many people are spending time in the community while infectious. The outbreaks that devastated the aged-care sector during the second wave in Victoria were desperately sad. Check your spam folder for our confirmation email! While we should celebrate what went right, its much more important we look fearlessly at what could have been done differently. We uncover the best of the city and put it all in an email for you. Everyone is trying (and failing) to make sourdough. Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick, and the City of Sydney, including the CBD. The anxiety of past outbreaks has been replaced with anger at state and federal governments, and a growing sense of despair that the pandemic will not end, at least not any time soon. Took a while for the anxiety to die down to get to this point but now I dont want to do anything else., Richard Chigwin is experiencing his third summer without customers. Deakin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. Victoria adds 'outdoor recreation' to the reasons to leave home, allowing picnics for the first time since July. National Cabinet agrees that the states will close: Melbourne distiller Gypsy Hub is the first (that we know of) to pivot to making hand sanitiser. The bigger question of course will be whether we ever need to rely on hotel quarantine again or whether we have learned the more important lesson about how unsuitable hotels are for containing infectious diseases. We already have this email. Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday defended the restrictions and current isolation rules, saying it was saving many thousands of people from ending up in hospital. If the devastating impact of COVID on aged-care centres is not enough to catalyse meaningful reform in this sector in Australia, then nothing will. Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. The first Covid-19 case was detected in Australia on January 25, 2020. Daniel Andrews must end this shadow lockdown and stop imposing 2020 style restrictions on family run cafes, retailers, restaurants and businesses and must immediately provide the support needed for their survival.. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. By 9News Staff 9:31am Jan 3, 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the days of lockdown are gone, even as daily COVID-19 case numbers continue to escalate across the country. COVID-19 Victoria 2022: The mood in Melbourne in another COVID winter National Victoria Coronavirus pandemic This was published 3 months ago Measuring Melbourne's mood as the city weathers another COVID winter Neil McMahon July 16, 2022 7.52pm Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Victoria announces tough new lockdown measures, including the 5km rule and an overnight curfew. Any one of these things could have led to the increase in numbers, together they are leading to big numbers. And our society will be all the worse for it. Pictured are Melbourne Demons fans during the AFL Grand Final in Perth on September 25. The 78-year-old man had been a passenger aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship and was the first WA resident to test positive for the disease. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a lockdown of metropolitan Melbourne as the state records its largest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since t. No wonder local councils and businesses are stepping in. Melburnians pictured outside Melbourne Town Hall on December 22. When asked about that decision today, Mr Foley said "most of those recommendations" were turned into orders, such as the rules around face masks. The fact this didnt happen should make Victorians extremely proud. Face masks are required at all major events with more than 30,000 people. Some wouldn't survive. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. The messy family drama behind one of the world's biggest K-pop empires, as the wave of infections sends staff into isolation at the same time COVID-19 patients are growing, Victorian hospitalisations surge to 631 as state records nearly 22,000 new infections, Timely reminder: How to respond if you test positive to COVID-19. And the Omicron variant, which has ripped through the country since December, appears to result in a less severe illness, in most cases, than previous variants of Covid-19. Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can, Mr Weimar said. The Herald Sun reports the state government is holding high-level meetings this afternoon to weigh up whether to reimpose restrictions across Melbourne, with venue limits and caps on home visitors among the options being considered. "I need to find any cases that are out there to get them under control, and obviously we need to continue to work very closely with our red zone arrivals to make sure that these flying embers don't catch light again," Victoria's Covid-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar told reporters earlier on Wednesday. These key charts will show if thats happening, NSW Covid update: health officials increasingly confident cases will plateau next week, Unions say exemption to allow Covid-positive people to work at SA meatworks sets dangerous precedent, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. But the state as a whole has been sealed off from neighbouring New South Wales and South Australia. Guardian Australia journalist Melissa Davey said there was "no way (the Victorian government) will delay any restrictions they think are needed given the way Delta is spreading in NSW". Four of the new cases were recorded on level three of Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong where the removalists stopped. Victoria recorded seven new cases early on Wednesday. Covid-19 was first detected in Australia on January 25, 2020. But maybe Im wrong. The 'winter shot': Everything you need to know about getting your next COVID-19 booster, If you catch COVID again, will your symptoms be worse? Kakadu National Park rangers in war against feral animals as populations boom, Shoe polish stands begin to vanish, lose their shine, A Nazi-hunting nun, an accused murderer, a theatre legend: This Australian actor plays them all, Macron says no 'double standards' between Ukraine and Africa as Congo leader urges France to back sanctions against Rwanda, They can be cheeky, nippy, and playful but these camels are also helping put a business on the map, Neurodivergent children are three times more likely to drown than their peers this class is working to change that, Mooney's Aussies humbled in Gujarat loss in WPL opener, A sea of colour as WorldPride takes over Sydney Harbour Bridge. How did it come to this? Over at worldometers we find some different numbers: The question is what has changed in the past few weeks to have led to this large increase in cases? A new test, the rapid Antigen test which can be done at home has become available. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/covid-restrictions-tighten-in-victoria-to-slow-spread-of-omicron/100741342. The messy family drama behind one of the world's biggest K-pop empires, as the state arrived at its 90 per cent vaccination target, Timely reminder: How to respond if you test positive to COVID-19. A new 'veloway' is welcome news for Melbourne's cyclists. Many others say they have chosen to go back into something resembling lockdown until their children can be vaccinated or until the outbreak peaks. And on Friday, they emerged from it with cheers, and a . The new BA.5 variant is considered to be even more transmissible than previous Omicron variants. The chamber is calling on federal and state governments to offer free RATs to small and medium-sized businesses, and suggestinga one-off payment equivalent to three weeks of support under the joint business packages released during previous lockdowns. National cabinet encourages wearing masks to combat COVID-19. Two years of having get a test drummed into you and then suddenly people are told not to get a test unless they fit certain criteria I found that really hard, he says. Are we set to have a third lockdown for 2021. "This is systematic, mass, stay-at-home behaviour, the likes of which we usually see during deep, organised stage four-style lockdowns," he said. Victorians are furious at the way Covid was spread from Sydney to Melbourne and are anxious about the prospect of a fresh lockdown as new cases emerge tonight. 'Because Victorians went out and got vaccinated in record numbers, it means that we are not considering going into lockdown and this is the commitment that we gave to the people of Victoria,' he said. As the virus. The only thing different now and previous lockdowns is Daniel Andrews has left small businesses to fend for themselves by not provided the support needed at this crucial time, he said. It's hard to believe that while Australia was so focused on the bushfires that raged in the early part of 2020, another threat was already on our shores one that would change the way we live and work for years. There's no Victorian COVID-19 lockdown, but Melburnians are choosing to stay home anyway By Joseph Dunstan Posted Tue 18 Jan 2022 at 11:16am, updated Tue 18 Jan 2022 at 4:38pm Even though lockdowns have officially ended, central Melbourne remains quiet as Omicron cases surge. Premier Dominic Perrottet had last week scrapped the QR check-ins for 'low risk' venues such as retail and kept them in place for 'high risk' settings like gyms and pubs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can also call the Victorian Aboriginal COVID Information Line on 1800 312 911. Victorian Liberal deputy leader David Southwick said the restrictions had placed increased pressure on businesses. Multilingual Australia is missing out on vital COVID-19 information. [The] big difference is I have no energy for or interest in working, just want to read books and chill. When will the Beast from the East be at YOUR door? CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete. If the measure of success in responding to the pandemic is the amount of disease prevented and lives saved, Australia will undoubtedly be held up globally as an exemplar of best practice. As a sole trader, Chigwin wasnt eligible for government support in earlier rounds. A fortnight ago on December 23, Victoria reported 2,005 new cases. The streets of Melbourneare eerily quiet as people stay at home. Massive gas tanker crashes in Maryland and EXPLODES into fireball killing the driver and setting local What will the next pandemic be? Sydneysidersare restricted to 5km of home. So which ones are best? 'People have come forward to get tested in record numbers, which is important to help keep people and the community safe, but we need to make sure our testing clinics are there for people who really need it,' Mr Perrottet said. for coronavirus. Australia's two largest states have kicked off 2022 with record COVID cases - while others have opted to change restrictions. of the novel coronavirus. "Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can.". The health department had been depleted over many years by both sides of politics and it clearly entered the pandemic under-resourced. Fronting up to press conferences day after day and answering all of the tough questions was important for many reasons. The government and health authorities failed to control infections among returned travellers spreading to hotel quarantine workers and beyond. Sydney temporarily reintroduces mask-wearing and imposes limits on visitors to the home. @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/Bq8oMG9FID. Victoria will not be sent back into lockdown despite a surge in cases linked to the hyper-contagious OmicronCovid strain, the state's deputy premier has vowed. He said while there were rules and density limits in place for businesses, it was likely the public had changed its behaviour during the current outbreak.