30 Aug, 2021, 08.26 AM IST 250 held in Australia anti-lockdown protests The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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. Density limits will be reintroduced in Victoria from 11:59pm and it will become mandatory to reportpositive rapid antigen test results to the health department, in response to the state's surging Omicron outbreak. 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. In a way, the statement still holds. Time Out rebrands as Time In worldwide to bring our readers ways to connect with their cities and support urban culture without leaving home. Dr Chant said one dose is helpful in protecting against hospitalisation but two doses i even more effective. His wife was the second. PCR tests, which are carried out through testing sites, will be discouraged for those with symptoms and for contacts. My husband is working overtime, heaps of chefs and [front-of-house staff are] unwell or close contacts, and there is no support. Sydneysidersare restricted to 5km of home. Ms Berejiklian said authorities will know by the end of this two week extension whether the lockdown will need to be even longer. Face masks are required at all major events with more than 30,000 people. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts, Alex Murdaugh unanimously found GUILTY of murder of wife and son, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. The above numbers came from the same article here. Mr Merlino said from 11.59pm on Thursday face coverings would once again be mandatory for patrons at cafes, restaurants and pubs in a bid to stem the spread of the Omicronvariant. We currently have mask restrictions and in the Northern Territory there is an even more draconian lockdown than we had in Victoria. Revealed: The top 10 fastest-growing destinations for UK pensioners retiring overseas. "Now with further information and further data available to us and after consultation with a wide range of groups I've made this decision thinking it to be an appropriate, necessary and proportionate balancing of competing demands.". Which somehow seems fitting as things being out of order seems to be the way things are with Covid. Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can, Mr Weimar said. Victorian Liberal deputy leader David Southwick said the restrictions had placed increased pressure on businesses. Published: 01:28 GMT, 23 December 2021 | Updated: 03:32 GMT, 23 December 2021. We are waving, we have our hand up and it is code red in the small and medium business sector. In the early part of the pandemic, the amount of effort needed to reach these groups was underestimated. Retail shops like Bunnings are closed for the first time. Register, Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout. Mr Andrews did not appear at Thursday's Covid press conference but did briefly interrupt his holiday to attend Wednesday's national cabinet meeting. Despite the Government trumpeting no more lockdowns once vaccine targets were met, isolation requirements, coupled with density limits and further restrictions have left Victoria in a shadow lockdown, he said. With the lockdowns extending into the 2022 financial year, we will no doubt be assisting with working from home tax deductions in the 2022 financial as well. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Public health orders enforced by strict and punitive laws have been replaced by a mantra of personal responsibility. Mr Foley said "such high levels of transmission" meant Victorians had to "coexist" with the virus. Mr Merlino's NSW counterpartDominic Perrottet has refused to bring back a sweeping indoor mask mandate - despite many health experts recommending residents continue wearing the face coverings indoors. But if we were to say it is all too hard lets stop isolating, lets stop getting tested, lets stop acting based on symptoms, then we would not have one thousand people in hospital, we would have many, many thousands. are permitted to leave the ship in Sydney without being tested for Covid-19. Covid-19 case numbers are on the increase across the state with 2,005 new infections and ten deaths reported on Thursday. Premier Peter Gutwein said with a highly vaccinated population Tasmania would not be heading into lockdown or closing its borders because of the climbing case numbers. Covid-19 was first detected in Australia on January 25, 2020. Victoria indisputably went through the toughest ordeal of any state in the country. 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". Of today's cases, 24 were in the community during their infectious period. Hassan Vally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. There were three initial cases earlier this week, that leaked in from NSW. The first Covid-19 case was detected in Australia on January 25, 2020. log in. The uptake of COVID vaccines by Victorians was nothing short of remarkable. 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. Victoria closes its borders with NSW. Guardian Australia spoke to more than 40 people about how they were feeling at the start of the third year of the pandemic. "But generally, for that ordinary day-to-day travel, be that to a workplace or to a friend's house or family, that travel is no longer happening. 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. 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. Asked if the removalists had been deliberately evasive, Mr Weimar said: "They're not being deliberately forthcoming, let me put it that way.". Many issues quickly became clear, such as the understaffing of aged-care centres and infection control practices, along with the lack of the proper accountability by government for these facilities. 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. Four of the new cases were recorded on level three of Ariele apartments in Maribyrnong where the removalists stopped. That would be very challenging not just for Covid patients but for everybody else who needs a hospital bed.. Australia has one of the most powerful passports in the world. 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. Melbourne exits its sixth lockdown, after 263 cumulative days. The state government put Melbourne into its second lockdown in early July after cases exceeded 100 cases per day. 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. On 28 September, the Latrobe Valley went into lockdown for 7 days. Deakin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. She still cant smell or taste anything and several of her friends remain unwell. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. I would not be fine I had my booster shot last week and was severely unwell for five days. A new 'veloway' is welcome news for Melbourne's cyclists. "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. Many health experts advocated for the development of purpose-built quarantine facilities and Victoria was a comparatively early adopter, yet we still dont have a facility in operation. And on Friday, they emerged from it with cheers, and a . for coronavirus. The three new cases are all believed to be linked to the apartment building where the removalists worked without face coverings. Australian government frontbencher Simon Birmingham told the ABC on Friday that demand for testing, from both PCR and rapid tests, had been far in excess of what has been modelled in Australia and all around the world. These were exposed in all their awfulness during the pandemic. Housing policies favour the rich and leave first home buyers high and dry. This brings the total number of infections in NSW to 864. The public servant, 25, contracted Covid along with 16 others at a house party late last month. 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 398 Victorians receiving care in hospital with 72 in intensive care, a small increase from 394 in hospital and 70 in ICU on Wednesday. . Dj vu! Any one of these things could have led to the increase in numbers, together they are leading to big numbers. 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. Mr Foley said there was no plan to introduce another lockdown. Oct. 22, 2021. The ship is later linked to up to 900 infections of Covid-19. Face masks are mandatory in all indoor settings in Victoria, except private homes,for anyone aged eight or over. It remains to be seen how this unofficial lockdown will affect the Australian Open, which has only just begun in Melbourne. 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". The residents of Melbourne have spent more days in lockdown 262, to be precise than people anywhere else in the world. "There's going to be friction between people, because different people are going be to making a decision on the basis of their own risk profiles," he said. "That is the number, the 24 number is what we need to get down to is close to zero as possible," she said. Local lockdown orders are reinstated in the northern beaches. Everyone is trying (and failing) to make sourdough. For me the risk is too high, she says. It has fully vaccinated over 92% of those aged 12 and above at the time of writing. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Many lessons have been learned about engaging the diverse communities of Victoria. Sign notifying customers that rapid antigen test (RAT) kits are sold out. "We need to see the numbers decrease. We paid the price [of lockdown], we bought the government time to build capacity in our health services. 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. , to be implemented by state governments: a ban on non-essential indoor gatherings of 100 or more people (including staff); a ban on outdoor gatherings of 500 or more people to continue in place; people only consider travel when it is essential; strict visitation rules for aged care facilities including a limit of two visitors a day and preferably no children under 16 years of age; social distancing measures of 1.5 metres; and. With that in mind, lets look at what went right, and wrong, in Victoria amid the pandemic so far. Authorities confirmed seven cases were linked, Covid rule that was an atrocious mistake. In the past fortnight none of my patients have gone to ICU. This is how the news unfolded on Wednesday. Key points: From Friday, Victorians must register their positive at-home RAT results on a government portal Health Minister Martin Foley said about one in 50 Victorians currently had COVID-19 Mr Foley said there was no plan to introduce a lockdown and that Victorians had to "coexist" with the virus Of the 2200 businesses on the strip, around 30 per cent have had to temporarily close, shorten their trading hours or their number of trading days.