The Victorian government has recommended people wear masks indoors and in crowded settings and that employers consider work-from-home arrangements.The CBD is still suffering because of the pandemic, with the City of Melbourne’s foot traffic sensors recording a 72.4 per cent drop on Monday compared with early 2020.
Paul Guerra, head of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his organisation had asked the government to confirm how long the advice would remain in place. “The health of Victorians must continue to be our number one priority, but we know from experience that government recommendations to wear masks and consider work-from-home arrangements significantly reduce the number of office workers in the city,” he said.
Holden expected the changed advice to prompt a drop in the number of people coming to the city, but he said the wintry weather was also a factor. EY talent leader Elisa Colak expects a drop in the number of people coming into the consultancy firm’s Melbourne offices.“I think people will probably think twice about coming in, and I think particularly in Melbourne it is freezing right now,” she said. “I’m glad that it’s not a mandate. From where we stand we’ve always had flexibility and we will continue to do that.”
carawaters Well if the hospitality staff and their management are so concerned that the fed government has canceled COVID sick payments, then mask up and you minimise getting COVID in the work place, stop staff shortages and all that sick leave … cause and affect 🤷🏼♀️just wear a mask 🤦🏻♀️
carawaters And the fearmongering begins again to support coming state elections. Fear works. Shame on the politicians. What the Chinese bioweapon has demonstrated is that the ability of state Premiers to impose punitive powers based on medical advice needs to be drastically curtailed.
carawaters Mask wearing reduces the number of people infected. OS/local data sets show self-imposed lockdowns happen when case numbers increase, meaning less business traffic. This occurred in Jan in Qld - no mask mandate, huge numbers, no one in shops. Allow the masks to reduce the numbers
carawaters The real headline is that the Andrews government ignored their health advice.