Seven million people have been ordered to stay indoors in a circuit-breaker that started on Friday morning
Meanwhile in Britain people are returning to pubs, restaurants and hotels amid optimism in the vaccine
Sixty per cent of Britons have received at least one dose and more than a third are fully vaccinated. This compares to just 13 per cent of Australians to have had a jab, while less than 2 per cent are full vaccinated
The slow vaccine roll-out was one of the reasons Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino gave for the need to lockdown, as well as loose hotel quarantining in Adelaide where the patient zero was staying
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On day one of Victoria s fourth coronavirus lockdown, Melbourne bar and restaurant owner Greg Sanderson knows the drill.
He has a checklist: break news to staff, finalise the cancellations from wine events and festivals, and organise how to deal with food spoilage.
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Mr Sanderson said he is bracing himself for an expected financial loss in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reaction was just numbness to be honest. It has been such a rollercoaster up and down, he told SBS News. It is a very numbing, surreal situation to be in again. Twenty-four hours since they announced the lockdown, there is still no news about any kind of support for us.
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All residential aged care facilities managed by the federal government will receive COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the day, Health Minister Greg Hunt has vowed, after being grilled on the delayed rollout.
One day earlier, Mr Hunt told the ABC s 7.30 program that as of Thursday morning there were still 74 aged care homes across the country that had not received vaccines, almost two months after the original deadline.
But in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Mr Hunt said he had received information that all aged care facilities would receive vaccines by the end of the day.
Wilkinson and the other Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino announced a circuit breaker seven-day lockdown on Thursday in response to 26 active cases in the state, initially sparked by another virus leak at a hotel quarantine facility. Every Victorian has the right to feel angry tonight ⦠four lockdowns in the space of 12 months is just untenable, Sydney-based Wilkinson told the rest of the panel, who film the program live from Melbourne. Especially when the federal government has been sitting on its hands on this for so long. The confusing messages over the vaccine rollout, the fact they re not setting up properly to do the mRNA vaccine here in Australia ⦠just one thing after another, and here we are again, she continued.
Victoria pleads for federal aid for suffering businesses
May 28, 2021 – 3.55pm
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The Victorian government has requested financial aid from the federal government to help businesses through the seven-day lockdown, with a support package worth around $200 million to be announced as early as Sunday.
In the meantime, the Morrison government has approved the use of 160 Australian Defence Force troops to assist with the doorknocking of people in quarantine.
Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino speaks to the media on Friday morning.
Jason South
On Friday, the Australian Industry Group said that in addition to an estimated $1 billion or more in lost revenue and stock, each week of hard lockdown would result in $1.5 billion in lost or deferred consumer spending, bringing the total cost to businesses to $2.5 billion a week.