“We’ll have some announcements to make soon,” the Premier said.Mr Andrews said work-from-home measures were no longer a concept for many people.“It used to be a reality for a small number and a concept for lots of others. Now people have done that, I think the way in which we work is bound to change,” he said.Mr Andrews said he was still confident that Victoria would transition to greater freedoms on November 24, when the state is expected to reach its 90 per cent double dose target.But the push to get workers back at the office wasn’t necessarily linked to a specific milestone, he said. “They’re not so much triggers, they’re just consequent to a number of changes we’ve indicated we’re going to make. I think that the natural flow-on is more people back in the office, more people moving around and getting very close to normal,” he said.“When there’s no more caps, no more limits, and you’re only wearing masks where it’s really sensitive, that’s going to see us the closest to normal we’ve been in a couple of years.”The Premier hinted that Victoria was set to host a “big program of events” throughout the summer months, with further announcements to come.“That will include getting people back to work, and all the things that kind of hang off that,” he added.“Whether it’s lunch or dinner time, drinks after work, all of that is part of the Victorian economy. That’s no less important than these construction jobs.”He also flagged a desire to increase the number of public transport services over the coming months, as commuters start to gain confidence to travel on the network again.“We’ve tried to run a steady timetable all through the pandemic. We’ve run more services then Sydney and what we’re very keen to do is to see that grow,” he said.Vic Locally-acquired Covid-19It comes on a day where Victoria recorded a spike in cases, often referred to as the “Thursday bump”. There were 1247 local infections and nine deaths reported on Thursday, up from 941 on Wednesday.There are currently 660 Victorians in hospital with the virus, including 114 in ICU and 78 on a ventilator.Mr Andrews said the fact that hospitalisation rates had continued to dip was a good sign. “Hospitalisation numbers are the key numbers … That is a very positive trend. That is not to say that it will hold fast, we have to monitor that every single day,” he added.
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