Victoria records zero new local cases, businesses shut down for QR code failures - The Age

The Victorian government has revealed it has shut down several businesses for failing to comply with coronavirus restrictions, including QR code rules, as the state recorded no new local cases on Sunday.

The state government said on Sunday morning it had shut down seven Victorian businesses for blatant breaches of the Chief Health Officer’s COVID-19 directions.

In the last week, authorised officers reported 168 instances of businesses not complying with the QR code system.

A retail store in St Albans was shut down for trading illegally during lockdown, while a South Melbourne health and beauty business was closed for exceeding density quotients and having no QR code system in place, the state government said in a statement.

Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson said the QR code data was vital to contact tracers being able to get on top of outbreaks quickly, and there was “no excuse for failing to keep these details if you are required to”.

“This is a warning to all businesses – if you flagrantly breach the rules, we will not hesitate to issue fines or even shut you down to protect public safety.”

There have been 17 infringements totalling $52,867 and 275 written warnings given out in Victoria to businesses breaching COVID rules in the past three months.

The warning came as the state recorded a “doughnut day” – in which no new cases are discovered over a 24-hour period. The last doughnut day was Thursday.

There were more than 19,500 test results returned across Saturday, with 12,424 vaccine doses administered. Two new cases were reported in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

Following the decision earlier this week to recommend Pfizer rather than the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, an infectious diseases expert says Australia’s ability to fight off another wave of the virus could rely on the uptake of AstraZeneca.

Burnet Institute director Brendan Crabb said there was an outbreak in Australia in the next six to nine months the rate of death and serious illness could be greatly influenced by the success or otherwise of the AstraZeneca rollout.

“The community has an inkling of this which is why they rushed to get vaccinated during the recent Victorian scare,” he said.

“But there’s no doubt (AstraZeneca’s) reputation is tarnished, perhaps even to the point of no return in Australia. I certainly hope that’s not the case because there’s a lot at stake here.”

As of Saturday, 27 per cent of Victorians aged in their 40s had received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 45 per cent of those in their 50s having at least their first jab, and 56 per cent for those over 70.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters yesterday that the advice was clear: “if you’ve received your first dose of AstraZeneca without any serious adverse reactions you really must get your second dose at 12 weeks”.

With Rachael Dexter, Aisha Dow and Melissa Cunningham

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiiwFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3ZpY3RvcmlhLXJlY29yZHMtemVyby1uZXctbG9jYWwtY2FzZXMtbXVzaWNpYW5zLWxlYXZlLXN0YXRlLWFmdGVyLWxvY2tkb3duLTIwMjEwNjIwLXA1ODJpdS5odG1s0gGLAWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvdmljdG9yaWEtcmVjb3Jkcy16ZXJvLW5ldy1sb2NhbC1jYXNlcy1tdXNpY2lhbnMtbGVhdmUtc3RhdGUtYWZ0ZXItbG9ja2Rvd24tMjAyMTA2MjAtcDU4Mml1Lmh0bWw?oc=5

2021-06-19 22:49:37Z
52781679385944

Bagikan Berita Ini