Victoria has confirmed 12 new COVID-19 cases with two more deaths which bring the state’s death toll to 773. There were 13,337 test results yesterday, and the results showed that restrictions may be eased soon.
Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said that the state was “well on track” to easing some restrictions from next week, however he said “Sunday will not be a day of massive steps, the roadmap does not speak to that”.
While the slight easing of restrictions was in itself cause for celebration, Victoria’s embattled Health Minister Jenny Mikakos was being grilled at the hotel quarantine inquiry over failures which contributed towards Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19.
Anna Robertson, the lawyer acting for MSS Security, said her company had also offered services in South Australia and Western Australia. She said the other states had department infection control officials on site 24×7 to provide advice, a model which was not in place in Victoria. She also added that in the other states, travellers were not permitted fresh air breaks as had been the case in Victoria.
READ MORE: Opposition accuses Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos for ‘contempt’ of Parliament
Ms Mikakos told the inquiry that the National Cabinet made a decision to quarantine international arrivals within 36 hours.
“That probably meant there wasn’t those opportunities to collaborate and share ideas and approaches across jurisdictions,” Ms Mikakos said.
Yesterday, the Health Workers Union published a letter accusing her of “repeated mismanagement of the Victorian health system” . The letter addressed to Premier Daniel Andrews was signed by HWY secretary Diana Asmar and said that Ms Mikakos lacked “even a basic understanding of her portfolio”.
READ MORE: Turkish flag with insults pinned outside Jenny Mikakos’ office
“Sadly, our union’s relationship with your government is now officially dead,” Ms Asmar wrote, adding that she was accustomed to dealing “with individuals who display pomposity and arrogance, even when their ability does not warrant it. Ms Mikakos, through her incompetence, has turned the HWU, a once supportive stakeholder of your government, into an actively hostile one.”