Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has made a subtle dig at the NSW Government, saying that retail stores would not be open during Victoria’s snap lockdown, and that the state has avoided a “NSW-style, lengthy lockdown” – a comment that has not gone unnoticed by his interstate counterparts.
“Just for clarity, retail is shut,” Daniel Andrews continued, while detailing lockdown measures.
“It’s not open. There will be no browsing, it’s click and collect. That’s what it has to be. That’s what is safe. That’s what has worked before in Melbourne and it is what will work again.”
When he was asked whether he thought NSW should have learned from Victoria’s lockdown last year, Andrews said that he wasn’t there to “scoff or sneer” at anyone.
“That doesn’t work against this virus. This virus doesn’t care if you’ve got a big ego or not,” he said.
“Just get on and get the job done. I can’t control what happens and doesn’t happen in NSW. These cases started in NSW, but I’m determined they will end here. “
Victoria’s snap five-day lockdown will kick in from midnight after the state recorded more than a dozen new cases in 48 hours – all of which have been linked to NSW’s delta outbreak.
The snap lockdown wasn’t an easy decision to make, according to Andrews.
“You only get one chance to go hard and go fast. If you wait, if you hesitate, if you doubt, then you always will be looking back wishing you had done more earlier,” Mr Andrews said.
“I am not prepared to avoid a five day lockdown now only to find ourselves in a five week or a five month lockdown.
“That is why we are making this very difficult decision and it is why I know Victoria, despite the pain and the difficulty of this, know and understand there is no option.”
It’s the fifth lockdown for Victoria since the pandemic began.
