In the face of increasing COVID-19 case numbers Victoria has reintroduced certain restrictions and announced a $1,500 payment for people with a confirmed case of the virus who don’t have access to sick leave.
The Premier, Daniel Andrews (pictured) said Victoria’s medical experts had informed the Government that the State had reached a “critical crossroads”.
“Our case numbers have hit the highest they’ve been in more than two months,” Mr Andrews said.
“The experts tell us that, largely, the numbers are being driven by families – families having big get-togethers and not following the advice around distancing and hygiene,” he said.
“In fact, around half of our cases since the end of April have come from transmission inside someone’s home.”
Mr Andrews said the number of visitors people could have in their homes had been reduced to five.
“Outside the home, families and friends can meet in groups up to 10,” he said.
“As we’ve seen across the world, this virus has the ability to turn a few cases into hundreds in a matter of days.”
He said Victoria would also delay planned increases in gathering limits in businesses and community facilities.
Mr Andrews said the new $1,500 payment for people with a confirmed case, or close contacts of a confirmed case, who couldn’t rely on sick leave was introduced to ensure there was no financial reason not to isolate.
“We’ll also look at ways we might begin to contain hotspots – if we keep seeing high case numbers each day, we will have to consider putting whole suburbs back into lockdown.”
He said people who could work from home should continue to do so, until 31 July at the earliest.
