Housing Lockdowns, Borders Close as Victoria Shuts Down

Panic buying, border closures, public housing lockdowns and fears for the economy have hit Victoria as the number of Covid-19 cases jumped to 127 overnight.

In recent days, 23 cases across more than 12 households were identified in the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing estates.

The nine public housing estates were immediately closed with residents forced to stay inside for five days and tested with only essential workers to have access to the buildings.

Victoria premier Daniel Andrews said Operation Benessere would be supported by onsite police.

“The close confines and the shared community spaces within these large apartment blocks means this virus can spread like wildfire,” Andrews said.

“As these figures show, we are still on a knife’s edge. Rather than spread across the state, we know many of these cases are located in specific communities. ”

Andrews said the virus was dangerous, indiscriminate and it had the potential to undo everything that’s been achieved.

Meanwhile NSW closed the border between the two states in a bid to distance residents from the virus.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said the decision was made after consulting with the NSW chief health officer Brad Hazzard and discussions with the prime minister and Victorian premier.

“I do not take this step lightly, but have always said we will do what we must to protect the health and jobs of NSW residents,” Berejiklian said.

The NSW chief health officer said this was not the first spike and it was unlikely to be the last.

“We must remain flexible throughout this ongoing pandemic and adjust our strategies as the threat grows and recedes,” Hazzard said.

However the border closures received criticism from Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox who said it would delay freight and hurt the national economy.

“The border closure puts up a Berlin Wall between our two biggest states which represent more than half our national economy, and cuts in two our country’s main economic artery,” Willox said.

“Freight must be waved through without any delay and police on both sides of the border should be given clear and consistent instructions rather than the vague directions that caused massive traffic jams and huge economic cost elsewhere.”

Broader economic implications

Capital Economics researchers have said the fresh outbreak had brought weekly cases in Victoria close to their previous peak.

“That resulted in many Victorians being placed back into lockdown and caused panic buying of essentials to restart,” the researchers said.

“We still expect overall activity in Australia to continue to improve as restrictions are generally eased.

“But new outbreaks will slow the pace of recovery and reduce the likelihood of a boost to GDP from a restart of domestic tourism.”

How the new outbreak of Covid-19 would impact the property market was yet to be seen with school holidays affecting the preliminary results.

There were 439 Melbourne homes taken to auction returning a clearance rate of 64.3 per cent, which was higher than last week’s preliminary figure at 62.7 per cent across 645 auctions according to Corelogic.

However the weekend’s result was an improvement on 2019 which saw 388 auctions at a clearance rate of 67.2 per cent.

Public housing problems

The policed lockdown of public housing estates also shone a light on increasing homelessness concerns as a result of the pandemic.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said the lockdown highlights why Victoria needed to build more social housing.

“Thirty-five thousand Victorians, and 4.4 per cent of households in public housing, live in housing that is crowded or has shared facilities, like bathrooms, laundries and kitchens.”

Related: Housing Stress Doubles During Covid-19

Victorians living in crowded or marginal dwellings

^{^Source: Census 2016}

“Lack of access to decent housing has put thousands of low income Victorians at a shocking level of risk during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Smith said.

“People on low wages, or who rely on income support payments, simply can’t afford decent housing in Victoria’s private rental market.”

The CEO said the pandemic had brought home some hard truths as housing and employment conditions were critical.

“People without any housing options other than crowded dwellings are the workers the community relies on to work in close contact in abattoirs, to pack shelves, drive deliveries, to clean or provide personal care or security,” Smith said.

“Their work is low paid and often doesn’t provide any protection, like access to sick leave. ”

More than 80,000 Victorians are on the social housing wait list and Smith said at least 6,000 new social housing properties need to be built each year for ten years.

This message was reflected by Grattan Institute program director Brendan Coates who said funding for social housing was key to stimulating the economy from a number of fronts.