Victoria records eighth day without virus case

VICTORIA’S steps towards normal living are about to quicken with a further easing of COVID-19 restrictions and flights from New Zealand to resume, as the state goes eight days without a new virus case.

Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce another relaxation of rules on Sunday, including the removal of Melbourne’s “ring of steel”.

No longer confined within a 25-kilometre radius, the city’s residents will be allowed to travel to regional Victoria.

Travel freedom will expand again when the NSW border reopens to Victorians on 23 November.

Mr Andrews said on Friday his Sunday announcement would include a plan for the rest of the month.

“They will be big steps, they’ll get us much closer to normal than we’ve been for six or seven months, which is very significant,” he said.

Victoria has now gone eight days with no new coronavirus deaths or cases. The 14-day average of daily cases is now only 0.9 and there are just two cases with an unknown source.

On Monday the state will see the resumption of direct flights from New Zealand – the first international flights into Melbourne since 30 June.

Meanwhile, a long-awaited report has suggested improvements to the state’s quarantine program.

Among the hotel quarantine inquiry’s 69 recommendations is that returning overseas travelers should be able to quarantine at home, potentially with an electronic ankle or wrist bracelet to track movements and enforce compliance.

Candidates would need to have regular COVID-19 tests during the 14-day period and face penalties if found in breach.

The report describes home quarantine as “at least as effective as a facility-based model” in preventing transmission and avoids the risk of putting people in “physical proximity with others suspected of having COVID-19”.

It also reduces the number of workers required, “thereby reducing the number of people potentially being exposed”.

Those unable to quarantine at home will be accommodated at hotels located near hospitals and modified for social distancing and minimal transmission risk.

Police would be on-site 24/7 alongside units dedicated to infection prevention and control, and contact tracing.

Staff will not be allowed to work across multiple quarantine sites or in other forms of employment.

Victoria’s second virus wave, which resulted in more than 18,000 infections and 800 deaths, has been traced to outbreaks among staff at the Rydges and Stamford Plaza hotels.

-AAP