Daniel Andrews and Scott Morrison are at loggerheads over Victoria’s controversial roadmap, with the premier hitting back at the prime minister’s “worst case” criticism.
The premier vented on Tuesday after two days of Commonwealth criticism about the roadmap.
His comments came as Victoria reported eight more coronavirus deaths and new cases rose slightly to 55.
On Monday, Mr Morrison said he hoped the plan to bring Melbourne and Victoria out of their lockdowns was a “worst-case scenario”, with business also fiercely critical of the strategy.
“I’d say to the prime minister, the worst-case scenario is being open for three or four weeks and then closed down again. That’s the worst-case scenario. Absolutely that’s the worst-case scenario,” Mr Andrews said on Tuesday.
“I will continue to work closely with the prime minister and his team. We’re grateful for the partnership that we have, but in my judgment, if I can be so bold as to have a judgment on these things, I think I’ve got some insight into what’s happening here in our state.
“The worst-case scenario is you’re open for three or four weeks because you pretend it’s over … and then we’re all back locked down again.”
“There would be 15 minutes of happiness and then we’d be back in lockdown and arguably facing an even worse situation than we face now.”
The prime minister had said if Victoria’s measures were applied to NSW, Sydney would be in lockdown.
“I saw some comparisons that I don’t think are helpful or accurate in any way,” Mr Andrews said.
“The notion that New South Wales would be in certain settings if our rules applied to them – well, of course, our rules don’t apply to them.”
Mr Morrison also said NSW contact tracing was “gold standard”.
On Tuesday, Mr Andrews announced Victoria would ramp up its much-criticised contact tracing, sending officials to NSW and establishing five response teams for suburban Melbourne.
The latest fatalities take the state’s toll to 683 and the national figure to 770.
While Tuesday’s case numbers are up on the 41 recorded on Monday, it’s the fifth-straight day below 100.
Victorians are now fixated on the two-week case average, which will be a key indicator for the government’s roadmap out of the state’s second outbreak.
As the Victorian roadmap continues to attract fierce criticism, testing numbers are causing concern.
They were down to 8704, the first time it has been under 10,000 since June 23.
While the premier acknowledged there would be fewer tests because the cold and flu season was ending, he urged anyone with symptoms to be checked.
“If you even have mild symptoms, the chances of you having this coronavirus are that much higher,” he said.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said there would be no change to the September 28 milestone, when some Melbourne workplaces and schools will reopen if the 14-day case average drops below 50.
But other key dates for the potential easing of restrictions on October 26 and November 23 could be brought forward if the data is close to prescribed thresholds.
Regional Victoria, meanwhile, is on a different timetable and will be able to move to the “third step” of restrictions soon.
Australian Associated Press