Aussies under quarantine to get disaster relief

SYDNEY: Australia will introduce a pandemic leave payment for workers who have run out of sick leave but need to be quarantined because they have been directed to stay at home due to the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday.

The announcement comes as the country deals with a second wave of infections, and its second most populous state Victoria closes retail shops, limits construction projects and curtails manufacturing activity to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The payment will be A$1,500 (RM4,514) for a two-week pandemic leave period.

Victoria declared a “state of emergency” on Sunday and has imposed the country’s harshest movement restrictions to date.

Meanwhile, Australia’s secondbiggest city Melbourne, already under night curfew, announced fresh restrictions on industries yesterday, including retail and construction, as it steps up desperate efforts to contain the spread of a resurgent coronavirus.

From tomorrow night, Melbourne will close retail, some manufacturing and administrative businesses as part of a six-week lockdown which is expected to hit 250,000 jobs.

“As heartbreaking as it is to close down places of employment ... that is what we have to do to stop the spread of this infectious virus,” Victoria’s state premier Daniel Andrews said at a press conference.

“This is a very tough day, and there are many more of those to come before we get to the other side of this.”

Restrictions include curfew from 8pm to 5am that will be in place for six weeks, barring the city’s nearly five million people from leaving their houses except for work or to receive or give care. – Reuters