The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a mass exodus of workers from central business district (CBD) offices — but, from this, came a new, hybrid work model that accommodated for employees’ unique needs.
While remote work remains the preference for many, some offices have struggled to convince their staff to make the trek back into central business districts and, experts say, it has come at a cost to newcomers.
In almost every major Australian city, during the month of June, new data from the Property Council of Australia shows commercial occupancy rates fell.
That rate is the measure of the area of rented space compared to area of total space available.
Melbourne’s commercial occupancy rate dropped from 49 per cent to 38 per cent, while Sydney’s fell from 55 per cent to 52 per cent.
Brisbane’s fell from 64 per cent to 53 per cent, while Adelaide’s dropped from 71 per cent to 64 per cent.
The only markets to record an increase in commercial occupancy were Canberra and Perth, where the rate rose from 53 per cent to 61 per cent and 65 per cent to 71 per cent, respectively.
Is working from home to blame?
The main culprit, according to the Property Council’s chief executive, Ken Morrison, is illness.
Mr Morrison said the results were disappointing, but not surprising.
“Office occupancy numbers have gone backwards for the first time in six months as a wave of [COVID-19’s] Omicron and flu cases kept workers away from the office,” he said.
Ken Morrison says illness likely triggered the fall in occupancy rates.(Supplied: Property Council of Australia)
“We have been seeing a steady increase in the number of workers returning to offices, but this stalled in June and has now declined in most capitals.
With winter nearly over, he said, it was encouraging that the latest COVID-19 wave had nearly run its course and that “recovery momentum can resume.”
Remote work not a ‘zero-cost exercise’
When occupancy rates drop off, small businesses, such as cafes, can miss out on a vital revenue stream.
Mr Morrison said governments needed to be mindful that encouraging people to work from home was not a “zero-cost exercise”.
“The costs are real and we see them in the vibrancy of our CBDs,” he said.
“We know office occupancy has been slow to recover, unlike other indicators, which snap back quickly.”
Are falling occupancy rates here to stay?
Tom Broderick — who heads up CBRE’s capital markets research — doesn’t think so.
“I think this appears to be a bit of a blip, with these most recent figures,” he said.
Tom Broderick says having fewer people in offices makes it harder to collaborate. (Supplied: Tom Broderick )
The July survey found the preference for greater flexibility, including working from home, was a better driver of occupancy levels, but this decreased from 63 per cent to 48 per cent.
Infectious disease experts have warned that, while Australia might have passed the peak of its winter COVID-19 wave, there could still be future surges and strains of the deadly virus in the future.
Key points:
Health authorities say Australia may have hit its winter COVID-19 peak earlier than predicted
But they warn the virus has repeatedly mutated and different strains still pose a real risk
On August 10, there were 133 deaths and 27,263 new cases recorded nationwide
James Cook University’s Professor Emma McBryde told the ABC that, while she was “cautiously optimistic” about the latest Omicron wave being over, there was still a risk of new COVID-19 variants.
“We’re still seeing a lot of deaths, [more than] 100 a day across Australia, which is an alarming number,” she said.
“We should be concerned about it rather than just dismissing it, but we should be cautiously optimistic that, bit by bit, we’re going to see a decline in cases in the medium term.
“I’m much-less optimistic about it being all over, as in the whole COVID pandemic being over,” she said.
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“Because we’ve seen this virus mutate again and again, and some of those mutations make it milder and more infectious, and other mutations make it more severe and more infectious.
“So we don’t know what’s coming next.
“I wouldn’t be bold enough to make any statements on [the end of the pandemic].”
On Wednesday, Australia recorded 27,263 new cases of COVID-19 and 133 deaths. There were 4,415 cases being treated in hospital.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler also said last week he was cautiously optimistic the most-recent wave had peaked.
“The data we’re seeing right now indicates we might have reached the peak earlier than we expected to,” he said on August 4.
Health Minister Mark Butler has warned of the “school holiday effect” on case numbers. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“We’re being a bit cautious about that because what we’ve seen through the pandemic is the ‘school holiday effect’, which shows numbers and transmission takes a slightly different course because of different activity in the school holidays.”
Professor Robert Booy — an infectious diseases pediatrician at the University of Sydney — said there was a “lot of good news.”
“The possibility of a new variant remains there, but we don’t see one on the horizon,” he said.
“[The Indian sub variant BA2.75] has fizzled out and we’ve had BA5 now for six months without a new variant taking over.
“So our immunity to BA5 is getting better and better.
Professor Robert Booy warns against complacency towards COVID-19. (ABC: 7.30)
“There isn’t a variant yet that looks likely to replace it, so there is hope on the horizon.”
However, I added, it was “no time for complacency.”
“We’re still seeing rampant deaths,” he said.
“It’s in front of our eyes and we’re looking at it with rose-tinted glasses. We’re seeing the positive and forgetting so many people are still dying and being damaged.”
He said the elderly and disabled were, “first of all”, precious people.
University of South Australia epidemiologist and biostatistician Professor Adrian Esterman said three key things needed to be done to improve case numbers:
1.Higher percentage of the population getting their booster shot
two.Encouraging correct usage of face masks in the correct places
The federal government’s COVIDSafe app has been scrapped just over two years after its launch.
But the $21 million platform, designed to trace close contacts of people who tested positive for COVID, had problems from the start.
What was COVIDSafe?
When COVIDSafe launched in late April 2020, it was touted as a critical part of the government’s plan to reopen the economy.
The app relied on a bluetooth signal which transmitted at regular intervals to make contact with other users nearby.
If a person tested positive for COVID-19, state and territory authorities could request access to the phone log to work out who else may have been infected.
But the lower the number of people actively using it, the less effective it was – and it wasn’t guaranteed to work for those who did.
So, did COVIDSafe work?
When it was launched, Australians were told they didn’t have to do anything special to get COVIDSafe to work.
But the then-government’s own testing showed that when it went live, COVIDSafe only worked effectively about a quarter of the time or less on locked iPhones.
Communications between locked Androids and iPhones was also poor – although this later improved.
The app’s effectiveness was hampered by bugs which had the potential to limit its core function – particularly at big events, according to experts.
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It also took until late 2021 for COVIDSafe to be updated to track the more infectious Delta variant.
Months before, experts had warned the app’s 15-minute exposure window – the time frame used to define a close contact – was “very useless” in tracking the more transmissible variant.
In December 2021 Mark Butler — who was then the shadow health minister — called for it to be scrapped after it was revealed to have identified just two close contacts nationally in six months.
Mr Butler is now the Health Minister, and figures released by his office on Wednesday show just 17 close contacts that had not already been picked up by manual contact tracers were identified in more than two years.
In its lifetime, the app clocked just two unique COVID cases.
Did anybody use COVIDSafe?
At its launch, the government said it would need 40 per cent of Australians – 10 million people – to use COVIDSafe for it to be a success.
But that number has rarely been mentioned since.
By the time of its decommissioning, there were 7.9 million registrations, according to Mr Butler, who called it a “failed app”.
The vast majority of sign-ups – more than 6 million – were in the first few weeks.
But the app relied on active users, and people consenting to their positive test results being used, to work.
The app cost $21 million but detected only two unique COVID cases.(ABC News: Emma Machan)
Fewer than 800 users consented to their data to be collected, according to Mr Butler’s office.
In September 2021, as COVID cases spiked in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, the ABC revealed the app hadnot uncovered any close contacts in those outbreaks.
In fact, the ACT never used data from the app at all, instead opting to rely on its own contact tracers.
How much did taxpayers pay for COVIDSafe?
The previous federal government entered into contracts worth nearly $10 million for work on the app until the end of 2021.
It refused to join Apple and Google’s joint contract tracing system, which was adopted by more than 50 jurisdictions around the world.
The total cost of the Australian app, which had a monthly operating price tag of $100,000, now sits at $21 million.
Of that, $10 million went to develop the app, a further $7 million on advertising and marketing, $2.1 million on upkeep and more than $2 million on staff.
What happens now?
Users are now being asked to uninstall COVIDSafe.
Doing so will delete all their data, according to a message on the app.
The Health Department will no longer gather personal data, and the data gathered via the app so far will be deleted as soon as possible, Mr Butler said.
The app will be formally decommissioned on August 16.
COVID-19 threatens to thwart many Queenslanders’ Christmas plans for a third consecutive year, but the New Year brings the hope of next generation vaccines that may better dampen virus transmission.
Key points:
Experts are warning waves of COVID to continue indefinitely
More than 65 per cent of Queenslanders aged 65 and older have received four doses of a COVID vaccine
Experts say “variant-specific boosters” and nasal vaccines will be rolled out to the public in 2023
With experts predicting COVID waves to roll on indefinitely, Queenslanders are being urged to prepare for a “new normal”, with mandatory mask wearing expected to continue in “vulnerable” settings, such as hospitals and aged care.
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard this week tentatively forecast the next COVID wave to begin in December, although he said it was impossible to predict its severity.
While the third Omicron wave has peaked, Princess Alexandra Hospital Director of Infectious Diseases Geoffrey Playford called on the public to remain vigilant by continuing to wear masks when unable to socially distance and to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and “keep our healthcare system going as best as it can”.
“We’re all aware in other societies, particularly in South-East Asia, and North Asia, that mask wearing has been a part of normal business, normal society for quite some time – well before COVID-19,” Dr Playford said.
“It may well be that’s where the rest of us go as well.
Masks will be the norm for the foreseeable future. (ABC News: Elizabeth Pickering)
“Humans are incredibly adaptable, and I suspect we will just get to a new normal that we’ll accept as the normal moving forward and we will adapt to that.
“I doubt it will get back to the old normal.”
Hospital balancing act an ‘enormous challenge’
As the fourth year of the pandemic looms in 2023, Dr Playford said the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic had left healthcare workers concerned about the management of other diseases, unrelated to COVID, moving forward.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital’s Dr Geoffrey Playford says hospitals have grappled with enormous challenges.(ABC NewsEmma Pollard)
“People’s cancer screenings, people’s cancer management, all the other non-COVID-related health conditions need to be managed as best as we can side by side with the COVID response,” he said.
“Patients who have COVID need to be managed in specific areas of the hospital and that’s over and above all the other pressures upon our healthcare system and our hospital beds.
“That’s been an enormous challenge trying to balance both.
“Although COVID is circulating within the community and will always circulate within the community … we shouldn’t just be accepting transmission without trying to reduce it as much as possible.
“That takes the pressure off the healthcare system and allows all the non-COVID-related conditions to get the appropriate management that they deserve.”
Queensland’s third Omicron wave is in decline.(ABC NewsAlice Pavlovic)
In Queensland on Tuesday, 710 people were taking up hospital beds with COVID – down about 36 per cent from the third wave peak of 1,123 on July 26.
The state also recorded 24 COVID deaths in the previous 24 hours, taking the total since the pandemic began to 1,677.
‘Variant-specific boosters’ and nasal vaccines set to roll out
Federal Health Department data shows 65.81 per cent of Queenslanders aged 65 and older have received four doses of a COVID vaccine – just above the national average of 64.87 per cent.
While the first generation of vaccines have not generated herd immunity – creating immunity within the population to effectively quell the spread of COVID – they have been highly successful in reducing hospitalization and death.
Infectious diseases specialist Paul Griffin says more than 100 COVID vaccines are undergoing clinical trials.(Supplied)
Infectious disease physician Paul Griffin said 2023 should see the availability of second-generation COVID jabs, including a “variant-specific booster”, that may be better at hosing down infections.
“We’re going to get improved tools to combat this virus,” he said.
Queensland has passed the peak of the third COVID wave with it expected to end in the coming weeks, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.
Ms Palaszczuk made the announcement at the Ekka today with hospitalization numbers falling steadily since last month.
“We actually peaked around July 25… that’s excellent news,” she said.
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the news came much earlier than national modeling had predicted.
“We believe this fantastic result is because Queenslanders have responded to national advice. Namely to get heir boosters, stay at home when sick, take anti-viral medicines and wear a mask in indoor crowded environments,” he said.
Queenslanders are still being urged to get their booster shots and wear a mask when they are indoors.
He said main indicator numbers – including hospitalizations and active cases – had fallen by 45 per cent or more since July 26.
COVID wave ‘every three months’
Dr Gerrard said the wave was expected to end in the coming weeks but another wave was expected in December.
“The virus is not going to go away. We are going to continue to have ongoing transmission,” he said.
“The current pattern we have seen in Queensland and worldwide is a wave every three months.
“We still believe it is likely there will be a further wave this year, but it is likely as time goes by, these waves will become milder in severity.
“Everyone now knows what they need to do.”
Currently 667 people are in hospital with the virus; compared with 1,123 at the peak of the wave.
“There are still 26 patients in the intensive care unit,” Dr Gerrard said.
There were just 2,504 new cases today and there are 35,482 active cases.
That’s a 47 per cent decrease from the peak of 66,569 on July 26.
Monkeypox vaccine available soon
The initial supplies of monkeypox vaccine will arrive in Queensland this week.
The vaccine will be targeted to very close contacts and high-risk cases.
“Initially the numbers of doses will be small and that will escalate in coming weeks and months,” Dr Gerrard said.
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As throngs of people flock to the Ekka showgrounds, authorities are concerned about a potential spike in COVID-19 and influenza cases in the Queensland community.
A string of illnesses remain in the community with COVID cases still high, the flu season not yet over and cases of monkeypox being reported interstate.
With some 1,300 head of cattle at the showgrounds, health authorities have also added a potentially devastating foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak to their list of concerns, though the risk remains low.
Back after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, Ekka crowds have exceeded expectations with people steadily streaming through the gates.
Virologist Lara Herrero said the Ekka event would inevitably lead to a spike in transmission of both COVID and the flu.
“I have absolutely no doubt there will be an increase in transmission for an event like that — it’s simple mathematics,” she said.
Lara Herrero says the Ekka is likely to cause a jump in cases. (Supplied: Griffith University)
So how can you safely hit the Ekka to devour a dagwood dog without getting sick?
Here are Dr Herrero’s five key pieces of advice:
1. Don’t get slack
Dr Herrero reminded those hitting the show to stay vigilant by employing all the usual tactics.
“Monitor for any symptoms at all,” she said.
“Try your best to keep that 1.5 meters of social distancing where you can.
“Bring your own alcohol wipes and hand sanitiser.
“Avoid shaking hands and hugging — I would still opt to first bump or wave.”
2. Wear a mask
Queenslanders at Brisbane’s Ekka Show — some masked up and others not.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)
You know the drill.
Free masks will be available upon entry to the showgrounds. If in doubt, mask up.
Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said he was impressed with the “reasonable amount of people wearing a mask”.
“Bring your mask along or get one on entry, make sure your protected and you’ll have no issues,” he said.
Queensland Health has encouraged everyone at the Ekka to wear a face mask, “not only for themselves but for every other person who is there to celebrate safely”.
Dr Herrero said she had no doubt people who live in the regions that come to the Ekka and return home to regional and rural areas will bring infection back with them.
“We have more cases in the city because we have more people, we’re living in a high-density community with more cases.
“So by sheer numbers, I have no doubt transmission on the regions will go up.
“It’s a good idea for those people returning to regional and remote areas to wear a mask for 24-48 hours to stop transmission to vulnerable people”
3. Stay away if unwell
“The Ekka is all about community spirit so if you have any symptoms, no matter how mild, have a bit of community spirit and stay at home,” Dr Herrero said.
Mr Furner advised anyone feeling under the weather to stay well away from the showgrounds, get tested and isolate.
“We don’t want people coming here spreading illness, whether it be the flu or COVID,” he said.
“Keep away if you’re feeling unwell and get tested.”
4. Wash your shoes and clothes of foreign dirt
Ekka show visitors should maintain good hand hygiene when playing with the agricultural animals amid fears of a foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)
The Ekka show is the largest showing of stud beef in the southern hemisphere with some 1,300 head of cattle at the showgrounds.
This has sparked fears of a foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak that could cost the industry an estimated $80 billion.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Wyatt estimated there was an 11.6 per cent risk of a potentially devastating outbreak occurring which would trigger a 72-hour national livestock standstill and longer-term movement controls on animals.
A preventive task force has been established with border security on-site.
Dr Herrero strongly advised people who live in agricultural areas to wash their shoes and clothes of dirt or mud from any other agricultural region to avoid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
With one case of monkeypox recorded in Queensland, authorities are also asking patrons to stay vigilant and monitor for symptoms.
5. Get vaccinated
Monkeypox vaccine is not yet available to the Australian public.(Reuters: Given Ruvic)
With a little more than three weeks of winter remaining, most of you would have had your COVID and flu vaccines by now.
thefourth COVID vaccineor “winter shot” is available for all Australians over the age of 30, as well as:
People aged 16 years and above who are severely immunocompromised
People aged 16 years and above who have a medical condition that increases the risk of severe COVID-19 illness
People aged 16 years and above who have disabilities with significant, complex, or multiple health issues, which increase the risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19 infection.
Australia may have seen the worst of the most-recent wave of COVID-19’s Omicron variant, which has swept through aged care facilities and strained hospitals, according to federal Health Minister Mark Butler.
Key points:
COVID-19 hospitalizations are high, but appear to be declining
Australia may have reached its winter peak sooner than expected
Millions of Australians overdue for a booster shot haven’t received one
Mr Mark Butler said ahead of a national cabinet meeting this morning he was cautiously optimistic COVID-19 cases have peaked.
“The data we’re seeing right now indicates we might have reached the peak earlier than we expected to,” Mr Butler said.
“We’re being a bit cautious about that because what we’ve seen through the pandemic is the ‘school holiday effect’, which shows numbers and transmission takes a slightly different course because of different activity in the school holidays.”
The Health Minister said hospital admissions were down, though remained high: about 5,000 admissions across the country.
State and territory health departments reported 66 COVID-19-related deaths yesterday.
The managers of a Melbourne aged care home where 50 people died in a COVID-19 outbreak will be compelled to give evidence at a coronial inquiry.
Key points:
Kon Kontis and Vicky Kos last year refused to give evidence at a coronial inquest, causing delays in proceedings
The Supreme Court found the coroner acted lawfully in ordering them to appear
Family members of residents who died have welcomed the ruling, saying it will help provide answers
Kon Kontis and Vicky Kos were in charge of the St Basil’s Aged Care Home in Fawkner when the virus swept through the facility in July and August 2020.
They were initially called to give evidence at a coronial inquest last year but refused on the grounds they might incriminate themselves.
State Coroner John Cain then made a ruling compelling them to appear, but Mr Kontis and Ms Kos took the matter to the Supreme Court.
Today Justice Stephen O’Meara ruled against the pair, finding the coroner had acted lawfully.
A COVID outbreak claimed the lives of 50 residents of the St Basil’s aged care facility.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica )
Klery Loutas, who lost her 77-year-old mother Filia Xynidakis in the disaster, has welcomed the decision.
“They [Mr Kontis and Ms Kos] have got vital pieces of the puzzle that they need to share with us so we know exactly what happened, how it happened, so governments and legislators can take action so that it doesn’t happen again,” Ms Loutas said.
Ms Loutas said the delay caused by the Supreme Court action had been difficult for families.
“We’ve all been very anxious, we all want to get through this and survive the stress and the torment and the anguish and the trauma we have faced having gone through this and the process being delayed, it just adds stress to our lives, she said.
“We’ve buried our loved ones, but we haven’t laid them to rest and until we find out exactly what happened to them and why it happened none of us will be at peace, none of us will ever be at ease or start to properly mourn and grieve.”
The inquest last year heard care for residents dropped off dramatically when the virus took hold in mid-July 2020.
After Victoria’s Chief Health Officer ruled that all staff had to be considered close contacts, the federal government struggled to find a replacement workforce.
The inquest heard residents were left malnourished and dehydrated and within six weeks, 50 had died.
The inquest was added while Mr Kontis and Ms Kos’ battle to stay silent continued.
It is unclear when the hearing will resume.
St Basil’s operators facing charges
Today’s Supreme Court decision comes as the operators of the nursing home also appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court where they are accused of breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
WorkSafe alleges the nursing home operator did not make sure workers wore protective equipment.(ABC News: Joseph Dunstan)
St Basil’s is facing nine charges which include failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment, failing to provide information and supervision, and failing to make sure that people other than staff members were not exposed to health and safety risks.
WorkSafe investigators allege the nursing home operator did not make sure workers wore protective equipment and did not train workers in how to use it.
They also allege St Basil’s failed to tell workers when protective equipment should be used, failed to supervise them using the equipment or verify that they were able to competently don and doff the gear.
If convicted, the nursing home provider is facing ends of just under $1.49 million.
St Basil’s will return to court in December for an administrative hearing.
New Zealand’s borders fully reopened to visitors from around the world on Monday, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed them in March 2020.
Key points:
New Zealand will welcome all international travelers from July 31
Jacinda Arden says the final stages included welcoming back those on student visas and letting cruise ships and foreign yachts dock in the country
The country imposed some of the world’s strictest border controls when COVID-19 first hit
The country started reopening in February, first for New Zealanders returning home, and restrictions have progressively eased.
The process of reopening the borders ended last night with visitors who need visas and those on student visas now also allowed to return.
New Zealand is now also letting cruise ships and foreign recreational yachts dock at its ports.
International students were a significant contributor to New Zealand’s economy and educational providers are hoping the reopening of the borders will again provide a boost to schools and universities around the country.
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New Zealand’s border opening plan revealed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday during a speech at the China Business Summit in Auckland that the final staged opening of the borders had been an enormous moment.
