NSW announces more of its restrictions will ease, allowing people in the state to: Then-NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announces that from July 1, the following will be allowed: Victoria announcespostcodes 3038, 3064, 3047, 3060, 3012, 3032, 3055, 3042, 3021 and 3046 will go back into lockdown from July 2. The first Covid-19 case was detected in Australia on January 25, 2020. Pictured: Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. The rules have been introduced to curtail the tens of thousands of cases reported each day, as the virus spreads like wildfire in the community. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. "The number that would worry us in the last 24 hours is the 24 number. While he said part of it would be due to Omicron hitting essential workers and those on lower incomes harder, it also spoke to that community's hard-learnt appreciation of the "perils of this virus". Its all just exhausting., Karen McVean, a Melbourne-based remedial massage therapist, has chosen a different approach. Now that has ended too. The thought of lockdown again is what is giving me a lot of anxiety and a lot of dread it scares me, says Melbourne man James Burke. But maybe Im wrong. One of the things that makes Victoria so vibrant is its a melting pot of cultures. Thats no-ones fault, it is the nature of this virus and people are making their own choices, to not go out as much as they might have., To join the conversation, please Follow our Covid live blog for the latest updates, a disease is less devastating if most of its victims are people who have pre-existing conditions, since ordered $62m worth of rapid antigen tests. The government has also announced a raft of "strong recommendations": that people take a RAT before visiting aged care facilities and hospitals, and work from home until late January. Victoria's Chief Health Officer has declared that from tonight the lockdown restrictions will be strengthened and extended in metropolitan Melbourne, until 11.59pm on Thursday, 2 September. The outbreaks that devastated the aged-care sector during the second wave in Victoria were desperately sad. The residents of Melbourne have spent more days in lockdown 262, to be precise than people anywhere else in the world. lifting work restrictions on 20,000 student nurses so they can be engaged to help respond to the pandemic. He said the lockdown, which had "sort of emerged organically", would also bring with it different levels of anxiety, uncertainty and confusion for some people. National cabinet encourages wearing masks to combat COVID-19. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. "Feeling tense. But as the initial challenges with the vaccine rollout highlighted, theres still more work to do. People who have had their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are being urged to get their second dose as soon as four weeks after, rather than waiting the usual 12 weeks. ABC host Patricia Karvelas said Melbourne residents were "on high alert again". Local lockdown orders are reinstated in the northern beaches. "And that really untangles that narrative that we had, you know, all the way through 2020 and 2021,where there was this fear, there was the suspicion,that there were other people somewhere else that weren't doing the right thing," he said. Professor Cowie said in light of that, it was time to recognise that positive rapid antigen tests had "the same authority as a PCR test". "Please note that we have always taken the position in New South Wales they will keep the community safe but also make sure that we keep livelihoods going.". 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. The rest of Victoria goes back into lockdown, as Sydney restrictions ease further. 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. Switching to rapid antigen would slash these numbers and stop testing sites being overwhelmed by the 'worried well' and delay testing for those who are feeling sick. Which in normal times would mean nothing as Covid is not really any different from the flu. A near-deserted Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD on October 20. Four of the new cases were recorded on level three of Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong where the removalists stopped. They may also have more extensive family and community networks that arent in the minds of health officials when laying down a one-size-fits-all set of rules. Register, Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout. You are not even fielding inquiries its school holidays in January, thats not right.. Today the state reported nearly 22,000 new infections, but the true number is likely much higher. Victoria enters its fifth lockdown . Melbourne spent more time in lockdown than any other city on Earth. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the 6th January 2022, the most recent data available, Australia has the following statistics: So according to these figures, more than 10% of all cases in the past two years were found in one day! A new 'veloway' is welcome news for Melbourne's cyclists. We reflect on what we've learnt after 100 days of lockdown in Melbourne. COVID in Victoria: 262 days in lockdown, 3 stunning successes and 4 avoidable failures Published: December 16, 2021 2.11pm EST Hassan Vally Associate Professor, Deakin University Catherine. 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. Australia recorded more cases in the first two weeks of 2022 than in the previous two years combined. Two had travelled to Wuhan, China, and the third was a close contact of the two travellers. Milly*, a young woman from Melbourne, says that two years of going in and out of lockdown has caused a downshift in her lifestyle that feels akin to being retired. 'Like a lockdown': in 2022, Australians are still feeling the fear and anxiety of Covid Most of the population is vaccinated and harsh restrictions have ended. Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said this advice is particularly aimed at those in Greater Sydney. 'We are not considering going into lockdown and this is the commitment that we gave to the people of Victoria,' Deputy Premier James Merlino said, Beachgoers in St Kilda in Melbourne. And on Friday, they emerged from it with cheers, and a . Here we are in early January 2022 and it's a wet day today (Sunday) in Melbourne, even though it's summer. Many others say they have chosen to go back into something resembling lockdown until their children can be vaccinated or until the outbreak peaks. The isolation status of six cases remain under investigation. But perhaps most frustrating was the news that the crew have not been cooperating with contact tracers who only today found out there were two trucks involved. Victoria asks (but does not mandate) people to wear masks in public for the first time. August 5, 2021 Victoria. "It is a true lockdown, but of course it wasn't announced and therefore we haven't entered it all at once, and because it wasn't announced or planned, we're not going to be able to exit it all at once either," he said. Victoria announces tough new lockdown measures, including the 5km rule and an overnight curfew. We must invest in these community partnerships to ensure all communities are more resilient and protected. Sydneyis released from lockdown on 'freedom day'. His wife was the second. The state's health systems are under growing pressure, as the wave of infections sends staff into isolation at the same time COVID-19 patients are growing. Like everyone else, we just have to muddle through on our own.. The new BA.5 variant is considered to be even more transmissible than previous Omicron variants. His deputy leader said the state government is not considering adding to the world-record 262 days Melbourne has spent in lockdown since the Covid pandemic began, 'The promise was if you go and get vaccinated, you can enjoy Christmasand New Year with your families and loved ones and that's exactly what will happen.'. I'm a vet, and here are five dog breeds most prone to cancer - including Golden Retrievers and Rottweilers, Prince Andrew chuckles as he encounters female jogger on way to his weekly Windsor horse-riding trip. Despite the efforts of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, a new unit specifically formed to bring these outbreaks under control, hundreds of elderly people died unnecessarily. Vulnerabilities such as understaffing and inadequate training have been known for decades and were largely swept under the carpet. All times AEDT (GMT +11). 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. Business owners at the precinct this week called on the government to bring back support payments for struggling restaurants, bars and retail shops. one of the longest aggregate periods of strict lockdown, outbreaks that devastated the aged-care sector, Multilingual Australia is missing out on vital COVID-19 information. Victoria goes into lockdown for the sixth time. This is more than simply a language issue. Many lessons have been learned about engaging the diverse communities of Victoria. The first Covid-19 vaccine doses are administered in Australia. Massive gas tanker crashes in Maryland and EXPLODES into fireball killing the driver and setting local What will the next pandemic be? Victoria on Thursday confirmed another 2,005 new infections and ten deaths - up from the 1,503 cases recorded on Wednesday. The areas of concern are Fairfield local government area, Roselands, Rosebury, Canterbury, Belmore, Sutherland shire, the St George area, Windsor, St Ives, Penrith and Bayside local government area," she said. Among the potential exposure sites are a major Melbourne shopping centre and an AFL game. A man who had flown from Guandong, China, to Melbourne on January 19, 2020, tests positive for Covid-19, becoming Australias first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. The Sydney suburb of Avalon records an outbreak of Covid-19, after NSW had gone 12 days with zero community transmission. . 'Providing rapid-antigen testing kits for those who want to do the right thing will help take the pressure of our testing clinics, while giving people confidence to get on with their lives.'. 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. July 27, 2021 Victoria's fifth lockdown ends, but less than a week later, the state is plunged back into another long lockdown. Business groups have been sounding growing alarm about the trend for weeks, warning the unofficial "shadow lockdown"is dealing significant damage to the bottom line, but this time without significant government support. When it comes to responding to a pandemic, however, this presents its challenges. Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can, Mr Weimar said. The lockdown will be in place until 11.59pm on June 3, with the following restrictions also coming into effect: People must remain within a 5km radius of their home when shopping or. It will also be mandatory to report the positive RAT result to the Department of Health through an online form or by phone, in areporting system the government said would go live on Friday. Sign notifying customers that rapid antigen test (RAT) kits are sold out. Mr Southwick called for the government to extend the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme for a further three months, to help thousands of small businesses avoid rent increases. There are confirmed positive cases on board at the time, and 130 people test positive within a week. 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. This is how the news unfolded on Wednesday. Mr Byrne said a "shadow lockdown" was a fair description for the situation. Omicron variant of coronavirus led to huge spike in cases over New Year but has since subsided, prompting Boris Johnson to drop social restrictions . Melbourne, Victoria could go back into Christmas lockdown . How did it come to this? Victoria on Thursday confirmed. Life is about to get very difficult for the unvaccinated, Active Cases: serious or critical: 269 (0.1%). 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. Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. Some wouldn't survive. Face masks are required at all major events with more than 30,000 people. 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. The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's acting chief executive Scott Veenker said customer numbers were dwindling across hospitality and events sectors, and the surge in infections was also putting pressure on staffing. NSW has recorded 97 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. When I have been asked for my opinion I have said that we will be free to have summer and then we will go back into lockdown in March. A legal stoush between Federal MP Monique Ryan and her former staffer has devolved into warfare with each side throwing allegations at the other, a court has heard. 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? That's a higher turnout than the first day last year, when 17,922 attendees were recorded. Masks are now required. It comes after NSW extended the Greater Sydney lockdown by at least another two weeks until the end of July, with another 97 cases on Wednesday bringing the total outbreak to 864. But before we do this, its vital we look back and learn every lesson we can so next time we are faced with such a crisis and there will be a next time we can do better. Which somehow seems fitting as things being out of order seems to be the way things are with Covid. Here's how likely you are to get it more than once, Charting the COVID-19 spread: Australia passes 10,000 coronavirus deaths, Self-help author Marianne Williamson launches primary challenge against Joe Biden for 2024 Democratic nomination, Chinese migrants walked a gruelling 500km to Victoria's goldfields in the 19th century. Most of the population is vaccinated and harsh restrictions have ended. Victoria has revealed eight new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, with a major Melbourne shopping centre and an AFL game potential points of exposure. Consequently, there is an urgent need to reflect on the journey and to address issues that have been raised so we can be on the front foot and do even better next time. Hannah*, a vision-impaired support worker in Melbourne, says the 2021 lockdowns left her feeling emptied out. Also invalidating is the implication, from some public health messaging and public responses to death announcements, that a disease is less devastating if most of its victims are people who have pre-existing conditions. Mr Morrison told day that with the arrival of Omicron, and Australia's high vaccination numbers, the government's approach had "shifted gears". The health department had been depleted over many years by both sides of politics and it clearly entered the pandemic under-resourced. Inside Prince Harry's finances from when he met Meghan Markle to landing 100M with Netflix and book Spare Do not sell or share my personal information. NSW records extraordinary 5,715 new cases two days before Queensland Covid cases double AGAIN to 369 as Annastacia Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' It's usual to see a lull in public transport use over the summer holidays, and network and road upgrades have caused disruption to some services. Read more: Lotus lifestyle EV division to go public . Covid-19 case numbers are on the increase across the state with 2,005 new infections and ten deaths reported on Thursday. Martin Radzaj says he has found the start of 2022 to be the most difficult time in the pandemic because of the utter confusion about what we should be doing. Under new testing changes, those who test positive on a RAT will be considered "probable" cases and must isolate immediately for seven days and notify their contacts. The above numbers came from the same article here. 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. "If you're fully vaccinated then your life will be back to normal, you'll be able to enjoy all of the things that you have yearned for and miss and desperately worked so hard for," Mr Andrews said as the state arrived at its 90 per cent vaccination target. Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week urged states not to re-introduce mask mandates, saying Australians should by this point in the pandemic know when and when not to wear a face covering. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Oct. 22, 2021. "Going to be so mad if we get sent into our fifth lockdown because of a Sydney removalist who wasn't wearing a mask," Choice journalist Jarni Blakkarly tweeted. Whats the price that we are willing to pay in order for people to be able to go and have brunch? The government is also looking at providing free rapid antigen tests to help curb the spread of the virus as well as relieving pressure off medical workers. 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? "Clearly, what were saying is particularly in greater Sydney, I have said openly that if you have had your AstraZeneca shots, over four weeks ago, contact your GP and talk about bringing the second dose forward from the 12 week mark to around 6- eight weeks," she said. Victorias latest Covid rules have been labelled a shadow lockdown by the opposition which claims isolation rules, density limits and restrictions have smashed Melbourne businesses. This article was originally written on July 4, 2022 and has since been updated and fact-checked. And our society will be all the worse for it. 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. In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, some individuals in Australia have still managed to avoid contracting Covid-19. It has fully vaccinated over 92% of those aged 12 and above at the time of writing. Mr Byrne said that trend extended to Melbourne's outer suburbs, where lower socio-economic communities had been among the first to go into lockdown this time around. Victoria goes into lockdown for the sixth time, are permitted to establish a 'single's bubble, More than 10,000 Australians have now died of Covid-19. 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. 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". 'Cautious' Duke 'was careful not to attack members of the Royal family' says Royal watcher amid fears he 'He's completely beige drained of all his feisty ginger life-blood': JULIE BURCHILL'S verdict on Prince 'I felt different to the rest of my family - and my mum felt the same': Prince Harry opens up on his 'broken 'Hallucinogens have helped me to clean the windscreen of my troubled mind': Prince Harry extols the use of A 14-year-old autistic boy's naive prank. Victorian Covid-19 testing head Jeroen Weimar said four of the new cases on Wednesday were linked to the Ariele apartment complex. "Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can.". "In regards to the balancing of economic, social, mental health, cultural and just family reasons, that was the appropriate decision," he said. Hospitality venues are recommended to switch to a seated-only service. Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! In a way, the statement still holds. Here's everything we've learned from Melbourne's polarising e-scooter trials. NSW on Thursdayrecorded 5,715 new Covid-19 cases - a daily record - and one death just two days before Christmas. Worried. In case you missed it, the Sydney removalists who carried the virus to an apartment block in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong have not been as forthcoming as authorities would like regarding the details of their trip. There are confirmed positive cases on board at the time, and 130 people test positive within a week.