Victoria holds fast on restrictions, records one new case as borders slam shut - The Age

Victoria will keep its restriction settings where they are for the next seven days after closing the borders to people from South-East Queensland and Perth, and recording one new locally acquired case.

Health Minister Martin Foley said the entire nation was in a precarious position and while Victoria would not increase its restrictions there would be no further easings for at least another week.

Mr Foley made the announcement even though Wednesday’s positive case is a primary close contact who has been in isolation throughout their infectious period.

“It is clear that as a nation, things are extremely delicately poised at the moment; we are seeing situations right around the country, where 12 million of our fellow Australians are under a form of severe lockdown,” Mr Foley said.

“So, based on the assessment from our public health officials, the arrangements that we currently have in place, will continue to be in place across the board – our settings will functionally be exactly the same, over the next seven days.

“We are not increasing restrictions as other states around the Australian mainland are. But what we are doing is holding them where they are to make sure that we keep Victorian safe.”

Victorian authorities classified 11 local government areas in Queensland, including the Gold Coast, as “red zones” at 1am on Wednesday, as well as the Perth and Peel regions in Western Australia, but have issued about 7000 permits to Victorians returning home from interstate.

Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said 150 authorised officers were patrolling Melbourne Airport, checking arriving flights from “just about every capital city, apart from Adelaide and Hobart”.

The Greater Darwin area remains a red zone, as does Greater Sydney, while the ACT and the rest of NSW have been declared an “orange zone”, except for communities in the border bubble.

“That gives a reflection of the scale of the red zone designations now happening across Australia,” Mr Weimar said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update.

People in red zones who are not residents of Victoria are barred from entering the state without an exemption, while residents can return but they have to obtain a permit and quarantine for 14 days at home upon their arrival.

Mr Weimar said authorities checked more than 800 passengers on Tuesday and, of them, more than 90 per cent had the right documentation to get into Victoria. Those who didn’t were able to organise it on the spot.

He said authorities had spoken to at least three-quarters of the red zone permit holders and about a third of them had so far tested negative to COVID-19.

“We’d really like to sympathise with people, particularly Victorians, that were in those areas,” Mr Weimar said.

“I know that many thousands of Victorians will have found some difficult decisions about whether to travel, or whether to return at this point in time.

“People in red zones who aren’t residents of Victoria are barred from entering the state unless they have an exemption, while residents may return, but they have to obtain a permit and quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival.”

People in orange zones have to obtain a permit to enter Victoria and then get a COVID-19 test and isolate until they receive a negative result.

Victoria’s tourism towns are packed as residents travel close to home to avoid the red and orange zones.

The state also recorded one new coronavirus case in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to midnight on Tuesday.

More than 20,000 Victorians received their COVID-19 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, while nearly 30,000 test results were processed.

AMA urges under-60s to wait for Pfizer vaccine

The new case was recorded as younger Victorians appeared to respond positively to the news that the AstraZeneca vaccine would be made available to all Australian adults on Tuesday, with some booking in immediately to get the jab.

But later on in the day, the Australian Medical Association urged people under 60 to wait for a Pfizer vaccine if they can.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement on Monday that any Australian over 18 will be able to access the AstraZeneca vaccine came without warning, surprising even the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, which provides expert advice to the government on vaccines.

The announcement also blindsided the Australian Medical Association, with president Dr Omar Khorshid urging younger people to continue to follow ATAGI advice and hold out for the Pfizer vaccine.

Earlier this month, ATAGI changed its clinical guidance to limit the AstraZeneca vaccine to over 60s due to the severity of a number of non-fatal cases of a rare blood clotting condition in people in their 50s.

“They’ve done the work to do the risk analysis for us, you don’t have to do it yourself, and they’ve recommended that people under the age of 60 get the Pfizer vaccine,” Dr Khorshid said on Tuesday.

“I don’t have any objection to a younger person deciding to get the vaccine they can get now. But I believe we should follow ATAGI’s recommendation because they’re the experts.”

The Prime Minister said the Commonwealth would introduce a new no-fault vaccine injury indemnity scheme for GPs this week, allowing doctors to administer the vaccine to anyone aged over 18 without the threat of legal action.

With Melissa Cunningham, Aisha Dow, and Mary Ward

Adblock test (Why?)

Victoria holds fast on restrictions, records one new case as borders slam shut - The Age
Read More