Victoria drops plan to force 50,000 civil servants back to office and ease vaccination mandates

Dan Andrews drops plan to force 50,000 civil servants back to office and ease vaccination mandates – as health officials ‘freak out’ over rise in Covid cases

  • Victorian Government ‘spooked’ by rising Covid cases in community
  • Plans to send workers back to the office were scrapped in response
  • Vaccination mandates will remain in place with no timetable to ease restrictions

Victoria’s health officials are so ‘frightened’ by rising Covid numbers that the government has abandoned plans to bring workers back to the office.

Civil service workers have been told to continue working from home for up to two days a week as Daniel Andrews’ government fears a spike in outbreaks in Melbourne offices.

Although working from home has been in place for over two years and the rest of Australia has now returned to full-time offices, Victoria continues to delay a decision to fully restore its CBDs.

Victoria health officials are ‘freaked out’ by rising Covid numbers and are still advising people to work from home as Melbourne’s CBD remains at just 60% capacity

The government has told several ministries to continue working remotely and this is expected to last through the winter.

“The government was planning to get rid of some things this week, but the health team is spooked by the increase in numbers,” a source from the health department told the sun herald.

Workers expected Mr Andrews to ask everyone to return to the workplace full-time at the end of last month, but the decision was never made and is instead expected to remain in place for years. month.

It is unclear how many of the state’s 50,000 civil servants have actually returned to office, with Melbourne’s CBD still relatively empty.

Civil servants have been told to continue working from home for up to two days a week as Daniel Andrews' government fears a spike in outbreaks in Melbourne offices

Civil servants have been told to continue working from home for up to two days a week as Daniel Andrews’ government fears a spike in outbreaks in Melbourne offices

The government has also refused calls to scrap vaccination mandates for specific industries despite high vaccination rates.

Victoria has some of the toughest vaccination mandates in the country and is even considering imposing booster shots in some areas as it battles the latest wave.

Mr Andrews said last month he expected only 60 per cent of the workforce to return to his offices after the pandemic.

So far, 65.7% of the state’s population over the age of 18 have received their third shot, with a move to allow employers to self-impose the vaccine being considered.

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