Other state employees being urged to work from home
Workers from select key sectors in Victoria have been required to get a booster shot as part of the state's expanded mandatory vaccine policy, as COVID-19 cases surge and new restrictions are enforced. The Victorian Health Department said on Tuesday that fully vaccinated employees in the following sectors will need to get their booster shots before they are permitted to work onsite:
- Healthcare
- Aged care
- Disability
- Corrections
- Quarantine accommodation
- Food distribution
- Abattoir, meat, poultry, and seafood processing workers
Victoria workers who are also able to work from home are strongly recommended by the government to do so, according to Health Minister Martin Foley.
"We continue to strongly recommend that if you can work from home that you should work from home," said Foley in an announcement on Monday.
Read more: Victorian parliament pushes key changes to workplace safety
It echoes the encouragement from Premier Daniel Andrews last week, where he also recommended working and studying from home if possible.
"We're asking Victorians to work and undertake adult education from home if they can, but we'll continue to assess this as the situation evolves," said Andrews in a statement.
This comes as a surge of COVID-19 cases hits Victoria state, with 34,994 new cases reported on Tuesday, according to the health department.
As cases surge, the government also announced a string of new restrictions aside from mandating booster shorts to eligible workers.
The new restrictions include closing the dance floors in entertainment venues except during weddings. Visits to aged care facilities will also be limited to five visitors with negative rapid antigen tests RATs. Without negative results, visitors will be capped to two people a day.
