Covid-19 Australia Victoria records 190 new cases as Dan Andrews discusses new freedoms for state

Victoria has recorded 190 new Covid-19 cases overnight as Daniel Andrews considers granting vaccinated residents more freedoms. 

The premier hopes to start easing restrictions once 70 per cent of Victorians have received their first jab. The vaccination target could be achieved as early as September 23. 

Vaccinated residents are set to receive more freedoms while unvaccinated Victorians will be ‘locked out’ from venues such as sports stadiums, cinemas and pubs.  

Discussions are underway with industry to see how a ‘vaccinated economy’ would work, Mr Andrews confirmed, with the required technology set to be trialled in regional Victoria after it exits lockdown.

A digital passport system is set to be rolled out and linked to the Service Victoria app and the federal government’s vaccination certificate. 

The 190 new cases announced on Saturday follow the 208 cases and one death reported on Friday

Victorians have been given a glimpse of what life might look like once the state meets its COVID-19 vaccination targets

Victoria reported 208 new cases, its highest daily total since August 22, and another death on Friday

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra has labelled it as the ‘path forward’.

‘It would be as simple as you get a green tick when you check in and you get a green tick if you’ve been vaccinated,’ he said. 

‘The person checking it at the venue only has to see two green ticks and you’re allowed in. You only need to look overseas to see that these passports are likely to be an integral part of opening up.’   

Australian Hotels Association Victorian branch chief executive Paddy O’Sullivan threw his support behind the initiative.

‘Regional pubs and hotels are fighting to survive,’ he said. ‘We look for any opportunity to re-open and are willing to discuss models for vaccination-only staff and customers.’ 

Mr Andrews also confirmed the government is working on a home quarantine program to bring stranded Victorian residents home from NSW.

There were 49,548 tests conducted and 35,464 vaccines administered in the last 24 hours. 

The 103 cases announced on Saturday now takes the state’s total to 1,301 active cases of Covid-19. 

There are currently 205 children aged between zero and nine years old infected with Covid, 213 cases aged between ten and 19, 316 in their 20s and 224 are aged in their 30s.

Currently 76 people are hospitalised with 23 in the Intensive Care Unit â€" 14 which require ventilators with none of the patients admitted being fully vaccinated. 

The 190 new cases announced on Saturday follow the 208 cases and one death reported on Friday.  

There has been a marked shift in focus from virus case numbers to vaccination numbers in Victoria this week, as authorities conceded the state cannot return to Covid zero.

‘We are not going to be driving this down to zero. That does not mean the rules are not ongoing. In some respect, we have to try even harder,’ Mr Andrews said.

The premier said it would be unfair to keep the state in lockdown because of the few unvaccinated residents who refused to get the jab.

‘Far from being locked into your house, you will have freedoms that an unvaccinated person is not going to be able to do,’ he said.

‘They will be locked out of a whole range of venues ­because they could be vaccinated, and they’ve chosen not to.

‘We are not going to be driving this down to zero. That does not mean the rules are not ongoing. In some respect, we have to try even harder,’ Mr Andrews said

New freedoms for the vaccinated

Daniel Andrews has ditched a zero Covid policy and announced the key to lifting lockdown is boosting vaccination rates.

The premier hopes to start easing some restrictions once 70 per cent of residents have received their first jab. The state could hit the milestone by September 23.

He has made it clear the freedoms will be granted to vaccinated residents while the unvaccinated will be ‘locked out’. 

Fully vaccinated residents could soon be allowed to visit:

â€" Outdoor music and sporting events

â€" Pubs and restaurants

â€" Cinemas

â€" The Spring Racing Carnival 

A new digital passport will be rolled out and linked to the Service Victoria app and the federal government’s vaccination certificate.

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‘I am not going to lock down the whole state to protect people who wouldn’t protect themselves.’ 

The premier continued to push for people to take up 50,000 available AstraZeneca appointments, despite an extra four million Pfizer doses flooding into Australia this month as part of a swap deal with the UK.

A further 50,000 priority vaccine appointments will also be available for senior high school students from Monday, with pop-up vaccination hubs at several schools.

Most of the state’s restrictions will remain in place until at least 70 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated, though some reprieve will be granted when 70 per cent have received their first dose.

The state was forecast to hit that initial mark on September 23, but it has since been revised to September 18.

In a bid to boost jab rates health officials have launched Australia’s first dedicated Covid-19 vaccination bus in regional Victoria. 

Goulburn Valley Health has announced the bus, a collaboration with operator Dysons, will travel across the region from early September administering both Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs.

Greater Shepparton, Moira Shire, Benalla Shire, Strathbogie Shire, Mitchell Shire, Mansfield Shire, Murrindindi Shire and Campaspe Shire are among the areas set to get a visit from ‘Jabba the Bus’.

Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated regional Victoria â€" apart from Shepparton and its surrounds â€" could be released from lockdown as early as next week

The bus, which has three pods and is disability-friendly, will aid efforts to break down barriers regional Victorians face to getting the coronavirus jab, including geographical distance and access to transport.

‘The vaccination bus will help us reach isolated communities and enable people to be vaccinated close to where they live,’ GV Health chief executive Matt Sharp said in a statement on Friday.

It comes after another three COVID-19 cases linked to the Shepparton outbreak were reported on Friday, taking the cluster to 127 active infections.

About 6000 people came forward for day 13 testing in the region on Thursday, in what is the expected peak for the outbreak.

To 12.30pm on Friday, more than 2,000 results had been returned and all were negative.

‘There is some work to do in the coming days to complete that process,’ COVID commander Jeroen Weimar told reporters.

‘But I am hoping to see significant reduction in primary close contacts in Shepparton over the next day or two.’

The extra health and emergency resources sent to Shepparton to manage the outbreak will become a ‘template’ for how officials tackle significant regional clusters in future, Mr Weimar added

Mr Weimar is confident the Shepparton outbreak will be snuffed out, so long as the remaining infected cases and their close contacts continue to follow isolation orders.

‘Provided people play by the rules, do what is asked of them and call for support when they need it, we can absolutely get things under control,’ he said.

The extra health and emergency resources sent to Shepparton to manage the outbreak will become a ‘template’ for how officials tackle significant regional clusters in future, Mr Weimar added.

Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated regional Victoria â€" apart from Shepparton and its surrounds â€" could be released from lockdown as early as next week.

In addition, trials allowing vaccinated residents entry into hotels, pubs and restaurants could be on the cards when the regions open up.

‘We could do some of those pilots safely in regional Victoria, hopefully, because they will be not in lockdown anymore,’ Mr Andrews said.

‘Today is not the day for those announcements.’

Meanwhile, the state government has again tightened border restrictions, tossing six Victorian and two NSW local government areas out of the border bubble and banning crossing to use physical recreation facilities.

The list of authorised workers has also been cut and their testing obligations expanded. 

Source: DailyMail

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