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Melbourne COVID-19 cluster sparks new restrictions
Professor Brendan Crabb spoke with Patricia Karvelas on RN Drive about what the latest COVID-19 outbreak means for Victorians and the Indian B.1.617 variant driving community transmission.
Below is a transcript of the wide-ranging interview.
Professor Brendan Crabb AC
Evidence does suggest that the (Indian) B.1.617 variant is more transmissible than any of the other variants. I don’t think that makes it a superbug necessarily. It’s exactly what we expect with Darwinian evolution over time. If the virus is allowed to run rampant which is what’s happened around the world, it will just get fitter and fitter as we say. It will be more transmissible including in the face of of immunity eventually. We do have to plan at least for this being significantly more transmissible but it doesn’t change actually the action you take. It just means that we, from the government to individuals, need to be very vigilant at doing
Just four in 10 operators are now trading at profit or expect to be doing so by the end of June, one industry survey has found.
The latest Business Confidence Survey from CGA and Fourth also quizzed respondents on their levels of confidence about the sector.
Some 79% were optimistic about prospects for the eating and drinking out market – a level which hasn’t been reached since February 2015 and a significant rise from October (18%) and February (50%).
A slightly higher (83%) number said they were optimistic about the prospects of their own business over the next 12 months.
Encouraging to see
More than half (58%) of leaders rating their performance since outdoor trading was permitted last month (Monday 12 April) as ahead of their expectations with 8% saying it was below expectations.