Modest restriction changes ahead for Victorians as exposure sites pass 1000

Victoria has recorded 76 new local coronavirus cases on Tuesday as authorities pledged a roadmap of “modest easing” to be revealed on Wednesday.

Of Tuesday’s new cases, 45 are linked to the state’s current outbreaks, and authorities are investigating the acquisition source for the remaining 31 cases.

The number of coronavirus exposure sites identified in Victoria passed 1000 overnight.Credit:Justin McManus

The Health Department did not specify how many of the cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period and said more information would be provided later on Tuesday morning.

The cases were reported from nearly 50,850 COVID-19 tests. No cases were recorded in the state’s hotel quarantine.

Premier Daniel Andrews said as the chances of returning to zero cases appeared more remote that authorities are working on a roadmap based on thresholds of case numbers for a reopening plan to be announced on Wednesday.

“I want to be very clear to the people of Victoria, this will not a be a freedom day it will not be an opening up type day. It’ll be modest changes that hopefully can be meaningful in people’s lives,” Mr Andrews said.

The plan, still under discussion with public health officials, would include slight easings of restrictions when tolerable case thresholds were reached.

“We have to aim to keep these numbers incredibly low. If we can achieve zero, that’s a terrific outcome. If we can’t, then we are all the better for having tried to drive the numbers down as low as possible, because this is the key point: Delta infects so rapidly that it’s not a choice between zero or 500 cases a day. It’s a choice between very low numbers of cases, and thousands of cases. It’s hard to find an in between, no country in the world has been able to do that.”

Mr Andrews said there has been some commentary about COVID-19 case numbers not mattering. He said while they will matter less when 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated, they matter a lot at the moment.

“We need to continue to work to run these cases down to the lowest possible number,” Mr Andrews said. He said Australia and the state could deal with a pandemic of the unvaccinated, but only if the proportion of those who aren’t vaccinated is small.

The figures come after Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned he was not sure whether Victoria could achieve zero COVID-19 cases in the short term, despite Premier Daniel Andrews stating on the weekend the state was still aiming for “very low numbers”.

“We have to do what is feasible,” Professor Sutton said on Monday. “We are not going to achieve the impossible if it becomes impossible.”

On Sunday, Mr Andrews said the state’s case numbers were too high to open up but that “we are still a chance to drive this down to very low numbers ... no one has given up on that”.

Victorian COVID-19 exposure site list expands

Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed on Tuesday morning that two of its sites were exposed to COVID-19.

A spokesman for the service said employees who attended the sites were following Department of Health instructions - including getting tested for coronavirus and quarantining for 14 days - however, all of its fire stations were still operational.

“The sites have undergone deep cleaning and disinfecting,” the spokesman said. “Neither site is accessible to members of the public.”

The fire service is yet to disclose where the exposure sites are located.

Health authorities identified nearly 150 new exposure sites on Monday, including several tier-1 or close contact sites.

Alpass & Associates law firm at Kilsyth in Melbourne’s east was declared a tier-1 site on Monday evening, as was Monash Ultrasound for Women at Mulgrave.

Authorities warned there would also be some close contacts associated with a school construction site in Port Melbourne, as well as with Woolworths Northland in Preston, and an apartment complex in Brunswick.

Chapel Street calls for a double-vaccinated re-opening plan

Businesses in the Chapel Street precinct are calling on the Victorian government to detail how they will be able to reopen safely to double-vaccinated Melburnians.

Chapel Street precinct general manager Chrissie Maus said: “Our businesses are ready and willing to jump through any hoop to reopen safely.”

“The sooner we do so, the better for livelihoods and everyone’s mental health and wellbeing,” she said.

Ms Maus said NSW had the “right mix”, learning to live with the virus while dangling a “freedom carrot” to supercharge COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Precinct chair Justin O’Donnell said that hair and beauty salons in the precinct could, for example, be controlled environments and abide by strict COVID-safe requirements. “These safety models are already used overseas,” he said.

“[The] Chapel Street precinct fully supports vaccinated people to have more access to services and for the non-vaccinated to take precautions and or stay at home until vaccinated.”

In the past 24 hours, more than 32,160 Victorians received their COVID-19 vaccine doses.

With Clay Lucas and Craig Butt

Cassandra Morgan is a breaking news reporter at The Age.

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