EMERGENCY service workers will be among those told that they are able go to work even if they are identified as COVID-19 close contacts.
The state government has announced that from this week, emergency services, education, critical utilities, custodial facilities, transport, and freight workers will be made exempt from close contact home isolation requirements so that they can go to work. Workers in the food production sector have already been announced as being eligible for exemptions.
The new rules come into place from 11.59pm on 18 January.
The state government says that workers can be asked to go back to work if “it is necessary for continuity of operations and if other options have been exhausted”. The worker will not be allowed to leave home except to attend a workplace.
Both employer and employee will have to consent to the return to the workplace. The exemption will also be conditional on vaccination status, the return of a negative rapid antigen test for five days, the mandatory wearing of a face mask, and a ban on entering shared spaces like break rooms.
Premier Daniel Andrews stressed that workers could not be forced to go to work if they are in isolation. “The worker’s rights are protected, and they can’t be directed to work if they are a contact – the worker has to agree to come in, just as they have to agree to the various preventative measures that will reduce risks for others,” he said.
“This is about helping Victorians keep food on the table, lights on in the house and staff on in our hospitals. It’s safe and sensible in the eyes of our public health team, but to further protect themselves and the community, workers will have to use a rapid antigen test every day and wear a mask at all times.”
COVID-19 is currently spreading across Victoria faster than it ever has before. As of Friday 14 January, there are more than 2000 active cases of COVID-19 among Frankston residents. The Frankston municipality has been recording hundreds of new cases daily since the turn of the new year.