Heath Minister Martin Foley on Monday said the prospects of the MCG hosting the third Test were “very real”.“We all want to see the third Test go ahead,” Mr Foley said.“Victoria is available, discussions with the MCC are bubbling along.“We will wait and see what Cricket Australia’s decision is.”And a cap on the 30,000 spectator limit imposed on the MCG for the Boxing Day Test may remain if the ground also hosts the next match, Mr Foley said. “The position at the moment is that 30,000 is the cap. That worked very well at the MCG over the last few days,” he said.“If Victoria is able to host the third test then the public health advice will be based on whatever operational plan Cricket Australia brings forward.” CALL FOR MEMORIAL TO HONOUR VICTORIA’S COVID VICTIMSA memorial to the hundreds of Victorians who died from COVID-19 should be built as a place for families, friends and frontline workers to pay their respects, according to a leading grief expert. The head of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement Chris Hall said the collective heartbreak experienced in Melbourne, especially during the second wave, was unlike anything the city had seen.
More than 800 Victorians have died during the pandemic — most dying without their families in aged-care facilities from June to August. “People will continue to hurt long after a community has moved on to other things,” Mr Hall said.
“(A monument) provides a focus for the community in the same way a war memorial does. “There is a sense, when it is safe to do so, that we should come together and find a way of acknowledging that this event has happened.“It also provides a focus for people to take their pain.”Smaller memorials at aged-care facilities badly affected during the outbreak — like St Basil’s and Epping Gardens — should also be considered. “(It shows that) this death is acknowledged as significant and deserving of a ritual that says this person lived, and they were loved by others in their family and by staff as well,” Mr Hall said. Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said she would support a monument being built somewhere in the city to remember the “devastating impact” the virus had. “We would co-operate with proposals for an appropriate monument and welcome the opportunity to host such a significant and healing memorial,” Ms Capp said.The City of Melbourne has approved such memorials before, including the fountain at Lincoln Square dedicated to the 22 Victorians who died in the 2002 bombing in Bali.
A spokeswoman for the Andrews government said: “The government will continue to consider any proposals that help our community rebuild and recover after a difficult year.”Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said every death should be remembered.“A public memorial in a prominent place would serve as a commemoration of those we lost and a reminder of what we have all gone through together,” Mr O’Brien said.The impact of the crushing second wave are still being felt across the city. The state government’s Anxiety Recovery Centre has had a 232 per cent rise in demand this year.A further $200,000 will be injected into the service this week to support its operations. The federal government has given the ACGB a contract to provide support and counselling to families. The centre’s service can be reached on 1800 222 200. Victoria recorded 59 straight days of zero community transmission on Monday. There were two new hotel quarantine cases, a woman in her 20s and a child under 10.There are 11 active cases in Victoria. Ten are in hotel quarantine and one is a teenage girl isolating at home after contracting the virus in NSW.
tamsin.rose@news.com.au
Powered by WPeMatico
