But will it be safer for women? "Feeling tense. A near-deserted Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD on October 20. 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". 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. In the early part of the pandemic, the amount of effort needed to reach these groups was underestimated. More than 10,000 Australians have now died of Covid-19. 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. But as a wave of Omicron infections wreaks havoc across workplaces and the healthcare system, data suggests Victorians are voting with their feet and staying close to home. Victoria asks (but does not mandate) people to wear masks in public for the first time. 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 lot of people have gotten one or more of the various vaccines. In the past fortnight none of my patients have gone to ICU. 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. More than 2000 people who attended an MCG match between Carlton and Geelong on July 10 are also on alert after the game was attended by an infected person. We already have this email. Here we are in early January 2022 and its a wet day today (Sunday) in Melbourne, even though its summer. Victoria enters its fifth lockdown . Melbourne spent more time in lockdown than any other city on Earth. Sydneyis released from lockdown on 'freedom day'. My husband is working overtime, heaps of chefs and [front-of-house staff are] unwell or close contacts, and there is no support. It now feels as though it is going to define parts of my life trajectory where I was hoping it wouldnt, she says. 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. 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. 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. There are other signs, too, that highlight a shift in focus from enjoying the freedoms of a reopened economyto navigating the pressure causedby the rapid rise in Omicron cases. It may be a new year but the lies and the fight against them goes on! Will the UK go into another lockdown in 2022? 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. And please, do not leave your home unless it is absolutely essential.". Housing policies favour the rich and leave first home buyers high and dry. 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. 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. 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. People do not want to feel that you are judging them or saying that what they are doing is unsafe and it is not inherently unsafe, they just have different risk tolerance and different priorities than you, he says. Its important to appreciate the experiences across the states and territories in the pandemic have been as different as Swan Lager is to Victoria Bitter. And our society will be all the worse for it. '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.'. 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? This resulted in the state being able to emerge from the final lockdown five days ahead of schedule and the return of freedoms so desperately desired. We currently have mask restrictions and in the Northern Territory there is an even more draconian lockdown than we had in Victoria. pic.twitter.com/YfNptxyua5. The reintroduction of density limits, mask mandates and other restrictions has also meant consumers are most hesitant to shop, keeping vital dollars way from local businesses. worldwide to bring our readers ways to connect with their cities and support urban culture without leaving home. 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. Kylie*, a midwife working in Melbourne hospitals, says despite difficulties with testing and high case numbers there is cause to be optimistic. "The reason why we want to provide that 2-week period at least is so that parents who are teaching children or supervising children from home know that unfortunately for an additional two weeks at least their children will need to learn from home.". "But if you are in certain areas where you know you are in even greater risk, as low as four weeks is acceptable. Some people are going to get chronic illness from that, and we are in our 20s, she says. #CovidVic. Melbourne exits its sixth lockdown, after 263 cumulative days. The Premier also hinted that parts of Regional Victoria may be able to exit lockdown "before next Tuesday if it is safe to do so." All times AEDT (GMT +11). The lockdown covers only Melbourne and an area to the north called the Mitchell Shire. '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. 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. 5 https://t.co/RbnwQRfFF0, In Melbs we are on high alert again. Here we are in early January 2022 and it's a wet day today (Sunday) in Melbourne, even though it's summer. I would not be fine I had my booster shot last week and was severely unwell for five days. Don't have an account? 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 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. 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". Daily case numbers remain at tens of thousands in NSW and Victoria. A Victorian-based consultant told Guardian Australia they were still receiving commercial rent relief until this week. Dr Chant said it was imperative that everyone takes the current restrictions seriously. The WORST care homes in England: Interactive map reveals the lowest-rated 2,530 residences - so is there one Do YOU know your Adam and Eve from your Ruby Murray? '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. The first Covid-19 vaccine doses are administered in Australia. Pictured are Melbourne Demons fans during the AFL Grand Final in Perth on September 25. "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. Australia has one of the most powerful passports in the world. August 5, 2021 Victoria. 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. Premier Daniel Andrews has announced Victoria will enter a five-day state-wide lockdown from midnight on Thursday night until 11:59pm on the following Tuesday night. Everyone is trying (and failing) to make sourdough. Are you willing to justify risking the health of vulnerable people for that privilege?. 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 "We are will have to vaccinate again against Covid and will have further advice about boosters but in the context of an outbreak, what we want to do is give people the advice so that they are protected.". Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. "We really are all in this together and the data proves it.". There will be another pandemic and potentially this will occur sooner than we all would like. Which in normal times would mean nothing as Covid is not really any different from the flu. Barbera says he is still struggling to come to terms with a health policy that expects and accepts that hundreds of thousands of Australians will get Covid, after two years where a handful of cases would send the city into lockdown. Today the state reported nearly 22,000 new infections, but the true number is likely much higher. 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. A leading Australian infectious disease expert has ripped into one of the most draconian measures enforced during the pandemic. Although many issues were eventually rectified and Victoria finished up with one of the best hotel quarantine systems in the country, the failing was in the leadership model and how responsibilities were delineated. Victoria recorded eight new cases on Wednesday, including seven linked to the removalists and a family from a red zone who should have been isolating for 14 days. The Ukraine war may be a battle for the global order but whose rules are we fighting for? 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. '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. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Ms Berejiklian said authorities will know by the end of this two week extension whether the lockdown will need to be even longer. Were very keen to make sure we get a very firm grip of this as soon as we possibly can, Mr Weimar said. 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. "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.".