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Subject: Sat.26.12.20 daily digest
Roderick.
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Sat.26.12.20 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains between Laverton and Werribee until the last train of Sun.27.12 (level-crossing removal).
In force until late 2021. South Gippsland Highway, Dandenong South is reduced to one lane towards Cranbourne, as level-crossing work continues. Be alert for changes between Princes Hwy and Dandenong Bypass. See http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions/south-gippsland-highway-dandenong-south-changed-traffic-conditions
In force until December: On Princes Hwy (Dandenong, near South Gippsland Hwy, for level-crossing works) traffic is reduced to two lanes in both directions, with speed set at 60km/h. Merge with care. See http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions/princes-highway-dandenong-south-changed-traffic-conditions
Boxing Day: Metropolitan trains will run to a Saturday timetable with Night Network services running through the night. Extra trains will operate for the Boxing Day Test at MCG
15.15 Buses will replace trains between Frankston and Stony Point (a train fault). Buses have been ordered, but may take over 45min to arrive. Consider alternatives. Journey time extended by approx. 35min.
- 16.20 Journey time extended by 25min. Buses are expected to be in operation until the last train.
20.29 Frankston line: Buses replace trains Caulfield - Moorabbin (a person hit by a train). Buses ordered, ETA 60min. Consider alternatives. Trains Flinders St-Caulfield / Moorabbin - Frankston with delays.
- 20.45 For alternatives, see our website.
- 21.26 Trains resuming, with minor delays. First trains: 21.09 ex Frankston; 21.29 ex Flinders St.
More working from home will transport us back to the future. Ross Gittins December 26, 2020. 81 comments
If there’s one good thing to come from this horrible year, surely it’s the breakthrough on WFH – working from home. This wonderful new idea – made possible only by the wonders of the internet – may have come by force, but for many of us it may be here to stay.
If so, it will require a lot of changes around the place, and not just in the attitudes and practices of bosses and workers. With a marked decline in commuting – surely the greatest benefit from the revolution – transport planning authorities will have to rethink their plans for more expressways and metro transport systems.
If we’re talking about fewer people coming into the central business district and more staying at home in the suburbs, over time this will mean a big shift in the relative prices of real estate. For both businesses and families, CBD land prices and rents will decline relative to prices and rents in the suburbs.
Flinders Street station during Melbourne's lockdown.CREDIT:EDDIE JIM
In big cities like Melbourne and Sydney, as so many jobs have moved from the suburbs to office towers in the CBD and nearby areas, the dominant trend in real estate has gone from position, position, position to proximity, proximity, proximity. Everyone would prefer to live closer to the centre.
If you measure the rise in house prices over the years, you find the closer homes are to the GPO, the more they’ve risen, with prices in outer suburbs having risen least.
But if WFH becomes lasting and widespread, that decades-long trend could be reversed. If you don’t have to spend so much time commuting, why not live further out, where bigger and better homes are more affordable and there’s more open space?
Maybe apartment living will become less attractive compared to living in a detached house with a garden, with a corresponding shift in relative prices. And if we’re going to be working at home as a regular thing, maybe we need an extra bedroom to use as a study.
It’s interesting to contemplate. But before we get too carried away, let’s remember one thing: in human history, there’s nothing new about working from home. Indeed, when you think about it you realise humans have spent far more centuries working at home than not...
...Happy speculation aside, there’s no certainty how much working from home will take on. If it does, there’s a risk that will be because bosses see it as a new way to cut costs. That really would be turning the clock back.
RELATED ARTICLE Thousands have flocked out of capital cities and escaped to the country during the pandemic. Australians flee cities for refuge in regional retreats
<www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/more-working-from-home-will-transport-us-back-to-the-future-20201224-p56pyu.html>
DECEMBER 26 2020 Privacy issues stop bus shelter construction. Kathryn Lewis
The ACT government put a stop to construction of a Throsby bus shelter last week, following privacy concerns raised by a nearby resident.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7067574/privacy-issues-stop-bus-shelter-construction>
'Don’t rush vaccine’: COVID-19 vaccine warning as NSW records nine new cases. Maria Bervanakis, Finn McHugh, Tiffany Bakker, Shoba Rao and Zoe Smith. December 26, 2020 News Corp Australia Network 1286 comments [Full article with ATN, but possibly not paywalled]
There have been nine new coronavirus infections detected in NSW, as a leading Australian epidemiologist rejected calls for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to be fast-tracked....
MORE CASES IN NSW...
HOW VACCINE WILL BE DELIVERED IN AUSTRALIA...
QANTAS PLAN TO SAVE TRAVEL...
CHRISTMAS TOURISM BLOW...
SYDNEY’S COVID CHRISTMAS REVEALED...
‘SYDNEY IS RIGHT ON THE EDGE’...
OUTRAGE AT FAKE DETAILS FOR CONTACT TRACING...
BORDER RULES AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
NSW
The number of visitors allowed in a place of residence is limited to 10 people. The total number of visitors includes adults and children.
Christmas period restrictions:
*Thursday 24 December
*Friday 25 December
*Saturday 26 December
While the current restrictions remain in place, special provisions have been made for when people visit each other at home.
During the Christmas period, there is a daily limit of 10 visitors to your home.
Any children who are aged 12 years and under will not be counted in the daily maximum of 10 people who can visit a home.
From Sunday 27 December, visitor limits at home will return to a maximum of 10 visitors including children.
Outdoor public gatherings
The new restrictions for Greater Sydney, Central Coast and Wollongong do not affect the existing rules for outdoor public gatherings which are:
*No more than 100 people can gather outside in a public place which includes public parks, reserves, beaches, public gardens and spaces.
*A public gathering means a meeting or assembly of persons for a common purpose in a public place
*People attending to assist in an emergency do not count towards the limit.
Holiday homes and short-term rentals
*A maximum of 10 people are permitted in holiday homes and short-term rentals unless everyone is from the same household.
*However, for premises that had already been rented out to more than 10 people before Monday 21 December, the people can continue to stay there.
*During the Christmas period, any children who are aged 12 years and under will not be counted in the 10 people limit.
Number of people allowed at a venue
*Capacity requirements for venues have been tightened to 1 person per 4 square metres in indoor areas.
*A maximum of 300 people, subject to the 1 person per 4 square metres rule applies for each separate area of hospitality venues and places of public worship.
Indoor religious services
*Religious services held indoors are limited to a maximum of 300 people, subject to the 1 person per 4 square metres rule.
Dancing and singing
*Singing in indoor venues is restricted, returning to a maximum of 5 performers indoors, provided they are 1.5 metres from one another and performers are at a distance of least 5 metres from the audience, who are not allowed to sing along.
*Dance floors will not be permitted, except for weddings, where a maximum of 20 people from the bridal party will be permitted.
The restrictions apply to all of the suburbs covered by these Local Government Areas in Greater Sydney, Central Coast and Wollongong area.
Face masks
*Face masks are not mandatory, but strongly encouraged on public transport and in indoor areas like shopping centres.
VICTORIA
Victoria closed its border to Greater Sydney, Northern Beaches and the Central Coast.
If people from those areas who are not Victorians enter the state they will be placed into 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine.
Victorians are being told not to travel to Sydney. If they do, they will have to enter mandatory hotel quarantine for two weeks.
A “traffic light” system of three different zones now exists where those from the Northern Beaches are in the “red zone”, and cannot enter without going into quarantine.
Anyone from the rest of NSW are in the “green zone” and can enter without restrictions.
Police have established checkpoints at certain locations along the Victorian-New South Wales border and will check permits to ensure that people hold a valid permit.
This includes residents of Victoria.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaking at a press conference in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty
Restrictions apply in Victoria
Face masks are mandatory on public transport, in taxis or ride share vehicles and in large retail stores, unless a lawful exemption applies to you.
From 11:59pm 18 December you must wear a fitted face mask when you are in an airport terminal. It is strongly recommended that you wear a face mask while on your flight or if travelling to Victoria by bus or train.
While you are in Victoria restrictions apply to you. Restrictions are enforced by Victoria Police and you can be fined.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
South Australia also closed its border with Greater Sydney.
If you travelled to South Australia from Northern Beaches Council (NSW) local government area or the suburbs of Cronulla, Lane Cove, Turramurra, Woolloomooloo, Lavendar Bay or Penrith between 11 December 2020 and 12:01 am 21 December:
*You are required to self-quarantine for 14 days commencing on the last day you were in one of the above locations.
*You must get a COVID-19 test immediately within 24 hours (or as soon as possible), on day 5, and day 12.
*You may self-quarantine at a suitable location where you can be isolated. This requires complete separation from others in the household and if this is not suitable, then alternative accommodation will need to be arranged.
If you arrived from other locations in New South Wales on or after 17 December:
*You are not required to self-quarantine.
*You must get a COVID-19 test immediately within 24 hours, on day 5, and day 12 (Day 1 is considered 20 December) (unless you have symptoms, in which case you must self-isolate).
Travel inside South Australia
*Travel within most of South Australia is unrestricted, although people are advised to avoid unnecessary travel.
Some restrictions are currently in place in Aboriginal communities.
All travellers coming to South Australia are required to complete a Cross Border Travel Registration.
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young will examine the location of the latest NSW cases to determine if more suburbs should be declared hot spots. Picture: Tara Croser
QUEENSLAND
Greater Sydney has been deemed a hotspot by the Queensland government.
Premier Palaszczuk asked any Queenslanders currently in Sydney to return home immediately, and any Queenslanders who recently returned from Greater Sydney to present for COVID-19 testing immediately, and could be required to quarantine.
These rules apply to visitors and returning Queensland residents.
Anyone can enter Queensland without a border pass, unless they have been in a COVID-19 hotspot, New South Wales or overseas in the last 14 days.
Currently, specific parts of New South Wales are designated COVID-19 hot spots, and restrictions are also in place for anyone wanting to travel into Queensland from anywhere in New South Wales.
If you have been in a hotspot within the last 14 days or since the hotspot was declared (whichever is shorter), you are no longer able to quarantine in Queensland and will be turned away at our border — unless you are exempt under the definitions within the Border Direction, which include:
*you’re a Queensland resident or are moving to Queensland
*to fulfil shared parenting and child contact arrangements
*obtain essential health care, or as a support person to a person obtaining essential health care.
If you’ve been in a COVID hotspot:
After 1am AEST Tuesday 22 December, Queensland residents who have been in a declared hotspot (currently Greater Sydney) since 11 December:
*must apply for a Queensland Border Declaration Pass before entering Queensland.
*can enter Queensland only by air and will be directed to quarantine in government arranged accommodation.
Passengers arriving at Albury Airport from Sydney. L-R Dani Shaw, Finn Shiels, 2, Hayley Fellowes (mother of child) from Ballina, Kerry Fellowes, grandmother from Albury. Picture: Simon Dallinger
NORTHERN TERRITORY
There are strict border controls in place for all arrivals to the Territory, including returning Territorians.
All arrivals tin NT must:
*fill in a Border Entry Form
*complete 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine at your own expense*, if you have recently been in an active declared COVID-19 hot spot. This includes children returning from a hotspot.
Northern Territory has declared the Northern Beaches local government area a hotspot.
Anyone planning to come have been advised to cancel their travel. Those who have been in the Northern Beaches in the 14 days before they arrive must enter supervised quarantine, in either Alice Springs or Darwin, and pay $2500 per person.
People pictured queuing up at a busy Sydney Domestic airport departures before Christmas and before there are any total lockdowns. Picture: Damian Shaw
TASMANIA
Tasmania has also declared the Northern Beaches local government area a hotspot. People from this area are not permitted to enter Tasmania.
Anyone who is already in Tasmania and has been in the Northern Beaches on or after December 11 must immediately self-isolate.
ACT
ACT has no border restrictions but those who were in the Northern Beaches area from December 11 need to immediately self-isolate and get tested.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Western Australia reinstated its hard border as of Sunday night for NSW. No one can travel there unless they are one of the following:
* active military personnel
* a Commonwealth MP
* a senior government official
* anyone who works in transport, freight and logistics
* anyone given approval by the state emergency co-ordinator
* those who have a compassionate reason – including those who travelled recently and need to return
Each person’s case here will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Those who were in NSW since December 11 and arrive must go into hotel quarantine for 14 days.
Those already in WA but came from NSW since December 11 must get tested and self-isolate until they get a negative result.
From 12.01am, Friday 25, December, travel from South Australia into Western Australia will be classified as ‘very low risk’, subject to no further outbreaks.
Travellers will be subject to certain conditions including the mandatory completion of a G2G registration and health screening upon arrival.
Anyone entering WA from SA prior to 12.01am, Friday, 25 December must undertake and complete their 14-days of self-quarantine.
More Coverage: Sydney to Hobart yacht race cancelled for first timeCOVID vaccine mega guide: Crucial details you must know
<www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/coronavirus-sydney-covid-cluster-changes-each-states-border-rules/news-story/96777ef5f310264a0ae9e91b9a437c2c>