Frustration with the lack of news regarding when COVID-19 restrictions could ease further in regional Victoria is becoming more common.
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Wednesday marked three weeks since regional Victoria moved into the third step of COVID-19 restrictions. Across those three weeks, regional Victoria nearly remained COVID-free, with limited cases of the virus present.
The only two current active cases are both in the Mitchell Shire, which was originally part of the metropolitan lockdown.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE
Despite this, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has not given any indication as to when regional Victoria may progress to the next stage of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Courier sent a series of questions to Mr Andrews on Wednesday for clarification as to when regional Victoria might begin to see some changes.
"It is critical that we continue to limit the movement of people across the state to slow the spread of the virus," a government spokesperson said.
"The restrictions are in place to bring down cases to as low as possible to reduce the risk of transmission.
"If there's an outbreak in regional Victoria our COVID Regional Response Units can use local knowledge to quickly trace close contacts, test and contain the virus before it spreads throughout the community."
Looking at how the lack of clarity as to when things may change is impacting the community, Managing director of the Mercure Iain Gunn said changes need to come within regional Victoria for businesses and for the community's overall wellbeing.
"It can't go on like this," he said.
"It's frustrating because regional Victoria has such low numbers... Ballarat hasn't had an active case in some time.
"I know the medical argument is that this is a highly contagious virus and things can get out of hand quickly, but what concerns me is the economic and personal fallout that we're seeing."
"I'm bemused by the fact that we can move around the city freely, we're interacting with each other, but we can't run our businesses properly."
Frustration within the community has arisen as Ballarat's next COVID-step appears to be tethered to Melbourne.
"The message I've heard is that nothing changes in Ballarat until things get better in Melbourne," Mr Gunn continued.
"Is that fair and equitable? I wouldn't have thought so. The 'ring of steel' is supposed to be protecting us from what's going on in Melbourne, regardless of what our restrictions are in regional Victoria.
"Regional Victoria is paying a very hefty price for what's going on in Melbourne and I'm sure people are frustrated with that, angered by it. We want to get moving, and if we can't get moving again, we need to start considering what to do from a business standpoint because it's unsustainable to continue operating under these restrictions."
Looking further into how businesses are continuing to be hurt by the current restrictions, Mr Gunn said his venue, much like many other venues within the region, are equipped to seat potentially hundreds of patrons inside while still maintaining social distancing.
"In the Mercure, with social distancing and spacing, we could fit well above 100 patrons inside, and I'm sure there would be other venues in the same boat," he said.
This is a similar sentiment to one shared by Commerce Ballarat chief executive Jodie Gillett, who said many hospitality venues are struggling to comply with the restrictions due to some patrons acting selfishly.
"The biggest and most common issue last week at pubs and restaurants was groups making a two-hour booking and then making another booking in the name of someone different immediately after," she said.
"This issue is that this is actually breaking the law, and is incredibly hard for the venue to police and enforce. Furthermore, this has the major impact of the patrons only purchasing food during one of the sittings, which is dramatically impacting the revenue that a venue can make. They essentially lose a whole sitting of revenue."
Ms Gillett added some other issues voiced by hospitality venues recently, such as underage customers using masks to flout the law, patrons from outside of regional Victoria not disclosing their residence, and unappetising weather.
As it stands now, no new information about when regional Victoria will move to the 'last step' of COVID-19 restrictions has been spoken about since the government released its COVID-roadmap a few weeks ago.
In that roadmap, the projected date for the 'last step' is November 23, and will only be achieved when the state records zero active cases of the virus for 14 consecutive days.
On October 1, Mr Andrews said it was too early to be thinking of changes to regional Victorian COVID-19 restrictions, adding "There may come a time, in a few weeks' time, to be able to take some further steps."
THE QUESTIONS WE PUT TO THE PREMIER
- Given that regional Victoria has continued to display very low numbers of the virus in the three weeks since moving to stage three restrictions, why has no update been provided as to when further restrictions will be eased?
- How long will regional Victoria have to wait to reach the next stage of COVID-19 restrictions?
- What criteria has regional Victoria not surpassed to make the Premier believe further easing the restrictions is unsafe?
- Will regional Victoria have to wait until metropolitan Melbourne is COVID-19 before opening up?
- When will regional Victoria be given an update on the next step of COVID-19 restrictions?
- On October 1, Mr Andrews said "We're certainly looking at whether there are further steps that could be taken in regional Victoria but they have to be safe. We've talked often about that two-to-three week cycle to know what the impact of the decisions you've made back then are."Regional Victoria is now beyond that 'two-to-three week cycle" with a 14-day average of 0.3 cases. How much more will the region have to do to ease restrictions?
THE RESPONSE WE RECEIVED
Government spokesperson:
We're incredibly proud of the efforts put in by Victorians in the battle against this pandemic.
We understand that everyone is making huge sacrifices, but this is a highly infectious virus and we cannot be complacent. While the numbers remain low in regional Victoria, we've seen just recently how quickly this virus can spread throughout the community. It only takes one case - so it is critical that we continue to limit the movement of people across the state to slow the spread of the virus.
The restrictions are in place to bring down cases to as low as possible to reduce the risk of transmission. If there's an outbreak in regional Victoria our COVID Regional Response Units can use local knowledge to quickly trace close contacts, test and contain the virus before it spreads throughout the community.
Throughout the pandemic and as we take cautious steps towards re-opening every change we make to restrictions is guided by the most up to date data and advice from the Chief Health Officer. We want to make sure we stay one step ahead of the virus, so the whole state can be at COVID Normal sooner.
Background
To achieve the Last Step there must be no new cases for 14 days state-wide. As we approach this threshold, we will be reviewing the situation frequently. We emphasise that it is not only the numbers, but the stories behind the numbers that are important.
Metropolitan Melbourne is currently in the Second Step of our roadmap. If you live in metropolitan Melbourne you can travel outside of this area for work, medical care and care giving. You can travel to regional Victoria to buy goods and services if this is the closest location to your house. You cannot travel outside metropolitan Melbourne for exercise and the same restrictions continue to apply to you while you are outside of metropolitan Melbourne. If you are travelling to regional Victoria for a permitted reason you cannot stop at a café - you must get takeaway only.
The measures are in force to ensure the number of cases continues to decline and that we continue to reduce the risk of outbreaks in regional Victoria.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW
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