Melbourne's top five mobile speed camera locations.

After reading the 7 News article on the top five fixed camera locations I followed the link to the article they referenced and the site CarExpert also lists the top five mobile speed camera locations.

Victoria’s top earning speed cameras | CarExpert

The following is a list of the locations.

Black Forest Road in Wyndham Vale, between Brimpton Grove and McGrath Road with 3740 infringements

Wetherby Road in Doncaster, between Doncaster Road and Koonung Creek with 3422 infringements

Oak Street in Parkville, between Park Street and Manningham Street, with 3338 infringements

Bell Street in Preston, between Harold Street and Watson Street, with 3321 infringements

Ballarat Road in Footscray, between Geelong Road and Jamieson Avenue, with 2930 infringements

For fixed cameras I've been able to take videos of nearly all the location around Victoria, but for mobile speed cameras it's much more difficult to get a video when there's a mobile speed camera car at the site. I've managed to video a few but none of the above locations. The link above only shows the road and not the mobile speed camera.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

 

Jumping the queue at KFC Eastland.

I was recently at Eastland and decided to have KFC. The problem is the queue was quite long. I wondered what would happen if I used the app. I had checked the app and the special on the app meant it was also cheaper.

I decided to go for it. I opened the KFC app, selected the store and placed the order. The order came up with my initials but not the order number number shown in the app. My order also appeared high up on the list so I may have jumped some existing orders (hard to tell) but certainly ended up jumping the queue of people waiting.

Perhaps not the most socially responsible thing to do, but certainly saved some time. Possibly one of the fastest services I've received at KFC Eastland.

One downside is if you're a senior and have a Seniors Card, you can't get the senior's discount using the app. No free offer either that appears on the receipt if you provide feedback. However, the special in the app in this case was a better price.

Kelvin Eldridge

Victoria's top five speed cameras now includes Rosanna Road and Darebin Street.

I noticed on the nightly news recently there was a mention of the top five fixed camera locations around Melbourne and how many fines were issued. The following link provides the information from the 7 News site.

Melbourne's top earning speed camera locations revealed including Heidelberg, Chadstone, St Kilda | 7NEWS.com.au

Below are links to videos for each location.

Intersection of Rosanna Road and Darebin Street in Heidelberg (northbound) with 23,807 infringements

Intersection of Warrigal Road and Batesford Road in Chadstone with 23,401 infringements

Intersection of King Street and La Trobe Street in West Melbourne with 18,502 infringements

Intersection of Fitzroy Street and Lakeside Drive in St Kilda with 18,107 infringements

Intersection of Terminal Drive and Centre Road at Melbourne Airport with 11,593 infringements

It is interesting to note Rosanna Road and Darebin Street in Heidelberg is now the top location in terms of fines. As a new red light camera/speed camera people are often not aware of the location. Also there's a large amount of traffic.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Thirty three elderly people in Norway who had received a coronavirus vaccine, subsequently passed away.

This week we saw the first article relating to deaths of 33 elderly people in Norway who had received a coronavirus vaccine. There is no evidence the people died as a direct result of the vaccine.

Pfizer vaccine deaths: No direct link between vaccine and 33 Norway deaths (news.com.au)

What is interesting is I recall when in one country the elderly weren't vaccinated, but the young. If I recall correctly, I believe this was for the flu. By vaccinating the young the elderly were protected. In Australia we  vaccinate the elderly against the flu.

Given there may be some concern for the elderly with vaccination against COVID-19, it may be worth considering if vaccinating the elderly is the best option. If all people that come in contact with the elderly needed to be vaccinated, is that enough to protect the elderly.

When you get vaccinated for the flu you can have a significant reaction. Some people actually feel so bad they feel like they've caught the flu from the vaccine, but that's not possible. Their body however appears to react as though they have. If an elderly person's body responds as though they have caught the virus, the question becomes, is that sufficient for the elderly to experience severe complications, possibly leading to death? 

I certainly don't know, but with around 1 in a 1,000 people dying in Norway who have received a vaccine, it's important people remain very aware.

Kelvin Eldridge

Almost a third of people who go to hospital, return to hospital and of those one in eight may die.

I thought the following article was particularly eye opening. It turns out almost a third of people who go to hospital, return to hospital and of those one in eight may die.

Almost a third of recovered Covid patients return to hospital in five months and one in eight die (yahoo.com)

Kelvin Eldridge

Perhaps it's time the government used larger events to find if there's COVID-19 cases in the community.

I was reading the news article on the partying at Bondi Beach and whilst I'm not in favour of large scale gatherings in general due to the risk of COVID-19, particularly in hotspot areas, it did give me an idea.

Coronavirus live updates: Backlash grows over North bondi party (news.com.au)

In Victoria COVID-19 cases are currently zero in terms of community transmission. There may still be infected people that don't know they're infected and in time those people will infect others. Either that or there is really no community cases of COVID-19.

The idea that came to mind is if there are hidden cases of COVID-19, if we had large controlled events where people registered (think The Australia Open or football matches) then if a COVID-19 case did occur, the contact tracers could more easily trace where the case came from. Yes it does mean there is a risk of people getting infected, but if there's no cases in the community, there's no risk. If there are cases it's one way the government can find the cases and enable people to do what they want to do, knowing there's a risk involved.

Even a party at Bondi could be held as long as everyone who went registered. People would actually be helping the community by partying.

Perhaps it's time the government was a little more creative and looked for ways to give people more freedom rather than their current strategy of excessively removing freedoms.

Now it could easily be argued that to allow people to participate in risky activities should never be allowed, but we also have to remember in the early days of COVID-19, Queensland held two elections where millions of people turned out and not one case of community transmission was reported to my knowledge (although I'm happy to stand corrected). We can live in fear or we can look for ways where people can do more in a controlled way.

Kelvin Eldridge

Bike trail videos now released twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday.

As my use of YouTube evolves I like to release videos in a way that makes sense to people. I've decided for that reason to release new Bike Trail videos on Wednesday and Saturday. Real-time drive videos will be released on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

There's always the possibly of other videos being released such as new or updated red light camera/speed camera locations. Also there may be one off videos I wish to share with others. These videos will mean that on some days two videos will go live. One in the morning and one at night.

The following is the current list of Bike Trail videos

Bike Trail, Main Yarra Trail, Part 2, Heidelberg to Abbotsford

https://youtu.be/9dQVwdAc-J8

Bike Trail, Southbank Promenade, Yarra Promenade, Orrs Walk, South Wharf Promenade, River Esplanade

https://youtu.be/rgg0AGmLXwA

Bike Trail, Main Yarra Trail, Part 1, Templestowe to Heidelberg

https://youtu.be/r9zzB8pyxWQ

Bike Trail, Koonung Creek Trail, Donvale to Ivanhoe East

https://youtu.be/UmudYoScZ24

Bike Trail, Green Gully Trail, Templestowe

https://youtu.be/GVC29JW7clY

Bike Trail, Edithvale Seaford Wetlands Environment Area

https://youtu.be/o1x7UPPDLik

Bike Trail, Wingrove Park Trail, Eltham to Eltham South

https://youtu.be/Dh6b_qc2htw

Bike trail, Fitzsimons Lane, Diamond Creek Trail, Templestowe to Eltham Aldi via Eltham Lower Park

https://youtu.be/JSBodbYLoJw

Bike Trail, Albert Park Lake

https://youtu.be/pcpICD8M42A

Bike Trail, Westerfolds Park Circuit, Templestowe

https://youtu.be/Qst6Q8bzGec

Bike Trail - Ringwood Lake Park, Ringwood

https://youtu.be/Bx_GogHdz-g

Bike Trail - Mullum Mullum Creek Trail, Ringwood, Croydon

https://youtu.be/Ycpjqcqn_rA

Each week two new adventures will be shared with those who are interested.

For me taking videos and sharing the videos helps to keep me motivated to get out and try to stay in some form of shape. Thank you for watching the videos as it makes me feel others are interested in the videos and that also encourages me to keep making the videos.

Another reason I take the videos is for when the weather isn't so good, I can use the videos to ride the exercise bike and enjoy the ride again whilst I exercise. Hasn't happened yet, but I also hope to have a virtual ride with family where we both pick a ride and share the ride whilst we both use the exercise bikes.

For whatever reason you choose to watch the videos, thank you.

Kelvin Eldridge

Nearest Train Station site moved to Mapz.com.au

On a regular basis I review the websites I've created and determine whether or not they should have their own domain name, or live under a group domain. This is largely a cost decision based on usage. If enough people are visiting the site then a separate domain is justified, if not then, due to cost, it's best the site is moved to one of the common group domains I use.

Low usage doesn't mean the site isn't useful to people, it's often that Google is not giving priority to the site so people can't find the site. For example during Victoria's COVID-19 outbreak I found the site I had where I shared public locations (at that point the government wasn't sharing the information), that Google really only seemed to share/prioritise government sites and news sites. It makes sense as we all want quality information, but also it shows us how the information we receive is considerably filtered. At other times sites that I build may simply be of little use to others. The only way to know is to build the site and see how the site goes.

In the case of Nearest Train station, I created this site as my daughters would often have me pick up a friend or two and then ask to be dropped off at the nearest train station. At the time finding the nearest train station using Google wasn't easy and hence the web site was developed. Google sees what people search for and over time they'll make the information available within Google Search. The more people that stay within Google Search and don't leave increases the display of ads and thus revenue for Google. This is one reason many sites may become less relevant and get less traffic.

Personally I still find the sites I created handy and use them regularly. So instead of killing off the sites when usage decreases I incorporate them into one of my group sites. Sometimes www.JustLocal.com.au, but in this case www.Mapz.com.au.

The Nearest Train Station site and Nearest Tram Stop and Nearest Vline Station pages can now be found on Mapz.com.au using the following links and are also available from the Mapz site.

www.Mapz.com.au/nearesttrainstation/

www.Mapz.com.au/nearestvlinestation/

www.Mapz.com.au/nearesttramstop/

I hope others find these pages to be useful as I do.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.Mapz.com.au

Bike ride around Southbank

I recently decided to ride the Gardiner Creek Trail and Main Yarra Trail into the city. I like to take videos of the bike trail rides to share on YouTube. At the end of the ride I decided to continue riding along Southbank. It was such a pleasant day and it was an enjoyable ride to simply take the time to enjoy the city scape.

https://youtu.be/rgg0AGmLXwA

Kelvin

Bike Trail, Albert Park Lake

I looked forward to riding around Albert Park Lake and it didn't disappoint. Although I really should have tightened the handlebars better on the new electric bike.

Kelvin

Free parking in the City Of Melbourne from 1st of December to January 3rd 2021

It almost seems like councils want to keep slugging us with ever increasing parking fees, or issue parking fines, so it's unexpected and welcome when the City of Melbourne issues free parking vouchers from the 1st of December to the 3rd of January.

Of course it does make sense. In this extraordinary time of coronavirus it appears the gloves are off to encourage us to shop in the city with free parking. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, you can find the free voucher at https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/parking-and-transport/parking/parking-locations-fees/Pages/free-parking-december.aspx.

Enjoy,

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

When our leaders get it wrong during the coronavirus pandemic, it's a reminder that anyone can get it wrong.

When one of our leaders breaks the very rules they're asking the rest of us to follow, it's a reminder that all of us, no matter who we are, or the position we hold, are just as fallible. It is a reminder that we should be tolerant of those who make mistakes and don't do what we'd normally expect of them during the coronavirus pandemic. 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian admits she didn't isolate after coronavirus test last week - ABC News

It's very easy for us when we see news items to judge others, but in the moment we can all make mistakes and errors in judgement, even our leaders do.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Dan Andrews flip-flops between using dates and trigger points.

I noticed at one point the Dan Andrews announced the opening up of Victoria would not be based on dates but reaching trigger points.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/coronavirus-victoria-new-date-for-step-three-in-melbourne/news-story/f80b425404010ab75273586a872bcbb5

If you were to revisit earlier roadmaps for Victoria you'd notice the next step for easing restrictions was when Victoria reached no new cases for 14 days, yet a few days ago the Victorian government flip-flopped from using the trigger point of now new cases for 14 days to the next step being on the 22nd of November, well over a week later.

From roadmap on the 9th of November.

From roadmap on the 11th of November

As of today there's 13 consecutive days with zero cases of coronavirus in Victoria, tomorrow hopefully that will reach the 14 days. If that happens Victoria would have reached the milestone required for the last step, yet the government has yet again moved the goal posts. You would think reaching a virus free target would be far less arbitrary than a nominated date, yet the government has flip-flopped on Dan Andrews statement. You have to wonder why?

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

An interesting observation. How many coronavirus cases were there that started with a healthcare workers in Victoria?

It occurred to me that an interesting figure would be the number of cases of coronavirus occurred as a result of an infected healthcare worker passing coronavirus on to family, friends and coworkers. This isn't to highlight one group, but to highlight the importance of ensuring our healthcare workers are given the best possible equipment and support to keep themselves and the community safe.

When I was growing up I recall there was the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital and I couldn't help wonder what is done now in terms of infectious diseases. With a relatively low number of cases of coronavirus, a single hospital with the best facilities and controls could keep or minimise infections reaching the community via healthcare workers. It appears there's now infectious disease departments in multiple hospitals which means multiple points of exposure for the community.

As an example, if we look at the most recent outbreak at the East Preston Islamic College, there was a total of 39 infections across 11 (/13) households. The originating case for this outbreak appears to be a healthcare worker from the Box Hill hospital.

As of November 8th there were 3,574 healthcare workers that had been infected. One of these healthcare workers in theory was the origin of possibly 38/39 cases. With a total of 20,345 coronavirus cases so far in Victoria, it's not inconceivable to think that perhaps the majority of coronavirus cases may have come about from healthcare workers if one infected healthcare worker can result in 38/39 cases. This highlights how critical it is to ensure everything that is possible is done to ensure healthcare workers are given everything above and beyond what is needed.

It would certainly be interesting to see what the final number of cases of coronavirus were that started with a healthcare worker as it might highlight where one of the greatest exposures are in terms of the spread of the coronavirus and where more resources could be focused.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

New rule for two visitors to another house is going to confuse people and unlikely to be followed due to confusion.

One thing the Victorian government continues to do that doesn't make sense, is not to treat a household as a single entity. In the last change to restrictions starting at 11:59pm on the 27th of October two people and their dependents could visit another house.

Visitors to the home: Up to two people from
the same household can visit a
household. Once a day you can visit someone
or have visitors. Infants under 12 months are
not included in this cap, and other
dependants can also attend if they cannot be
left unattended or cared for in another
setting. The two people must be from the
same household and 25km rule applies.

What doesn't make sense is if someone in a household is infected with coronavirus then it's possible, probably likely, another person in the household could be infected. If a two people from a household visit another person who is infected and returns to their household they're likely to infect those who didn't visit another person's house. Treating a household as a single entity makes sense, whereas treating the household as separate individuals in terms of activities doesn't.

By enabling the entire household to visit as a single entity the entire entity is exposed, or exposes at the same level. It's also unlikely the people will know, or even have a clue as to what represents "if they cannot be left unattended". When is it that we can leave a child home unattended? I certainly don't know the answer to that and I'm sure most people don't.

Now we have the new rules starting from 11:59pm on the 8th of November and things are just going to get totally confusing for people visiting another household.

Now instead of the two people that could visit another household, we can have two people from two different households visit another house. So of the original two people who could visit previously only one can now visit. Talk about a big step backwards and it really isn't going to make sense to anyone.

You can still only have a maximum of two people to visit per day. Going forward though, those two people don’t need to be from the same household, and they’ll be able to come at different times.
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/statement-premier-81

This is not progression, it's a backward step.

If you think about this logically with the original two people and their dependents, if one of those people now has to stay home, it means only one person and no dependents should visit and that could be true of the second person who visits. Assuming both visitors have partners then no dependents should need to visit because their partners can look after the dependents. Is this what the government really intended?

Why isn't it that the original two people (and their dependents) could visit and then an additional two people and their dependents visit. This is supported to be about gradually opening up, not having backwards steps.

Perhaps what this shows is the government hasn't thought out the steps as well as they should have.

To go from no visitors to two visitors from the one household then back to one visitor from the household is not a logical progression.

Only those who try to understand the rules and follow the rules will do what the government is asking. The rest of Victorians will see this as silliness and do what they feel is appropriate.

It's also a concern as to how this is going to be monitored and enforced. The only way people would know you had two lots of visitors where partners attended as well as dependents, is if neighbours are really keeping tabs on each other in minute detail and that's being encouraged by the government. That's the type of society you read about in futuristic books, or how The Colony on Netflix has neighbours watching others. I know that's not the society I want for myself, my family and my children.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

PS. The following is the Roadmap summary for Metropolitan Melbourne
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/Victorias-roadmap-for-reopening-How-we-live-in-metropolitan-Melbourne-FINAL.pdf
There have been changes such as the number of visitors from separate households from 11:59pm, on 8 November 2020 as detailed in the Premier's statement. 

Red-light speed camera reinstallation at Anzac Parade and Todman Avenue, Kensington.

The red-light speed camera has been reinstalled at the intersection of Anzac Parade and Todman Avenue, Kensington. According to the following article the camera was installed in 2011 and removed in 2016 for the construction of the light rail. If you check Google Street View for December 2015 you can see the camera was located in the median strip opposite the 7 Eleven petrol station.

https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/media-releases/dangerous-driving-given-red-light-kensington

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCamerarLocations.com.au/nsw/

Why is Mornington Peninsula being treated differently than the Ballerine Peninsula when it comes to Victoria's lockdown?

When you look at the Bellarine Peninsula, which includes Geelong, the area is treated by the Victorian government as being regional for the purposes of coronavirus and the lockdown, but the Mornington Peninsula is being treated the same as metropolitan Melbourne. Based on the case numbers this doesn't make sense. 

Whilst there is a large gap between the suburbs in the west to Geelong based on distance, the reality is the area is served by a major freeway that means the actual distance isn't as relevant. The Mornington Peninsula doesn't have the large open area, but should that make a difference.

I decided to bring up a map showing the coronavirus cases in Victoria for the last 50 days.

Map showing the number of cases by postcode for the last 50 days.

You can see from the map there's only been one case in the Mornington Peninsula and two cases in the Bellarine Peninsula. So effectively little difference in the number of cases when we take into account the population difference between the two areas.

There is no reason the Victorian government can't declare the Mornington Peninsula for the purposes of the coronavirus to be effectively the same as a regional area, just as the government included the regional area of Mitchell when it made sense to the government in July.

By treating the Mornington Peninsula the same as a regional area, that part of Victoria can start to return to normal. Right now however the Mornington Peninsula is open to anyone from an area that has had cases and lives or works within 25km. That doesn't seem fair to those who live in the Mornington Peninsula area. The Mornington Peninsula is covered by a single Local Government Area so it is a well defined area.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

PS. For those who wonder why I chose 50 days, it is because I only have 51 days of data and 50 was the nearest round number.

 

Dan's Andrews mistakes with communication this week.

This week I've noticed a couple of mistakes Dan Andrews has made with his communication that is certainly impacting the morale of the Victorian citizens, but in another area creating confusion which could lead to people getting fined.

The first is the hype during the week from the press leading people to expect on Sunday the 25th of October we could hear a significant announcement, yet it didn't happen. Supposedly it didn't happen because of two days with the days cases being 7 each day. The problem is this doesn't look good. On the one hand the government is saying we'll average cases over a 14 day period (ending an additional 2 days ago) and if the figure reaches an average of 5 cases per day with 5 mystery cases the target has been reached. Yet there's been a knee jerk reaction because of the two last days. You can't, or shouldn't create a perception of a target that is averaged over a longer period of time, just to change path because of the cases number for two days. The case numbers are largely from a single known outbreak. With the number of mystery cases being 9, that's so close to 5 most people wouldn't consider the difference significant, yet the government flips as though they are in panic mode.

The problem is the government isn't taking small incremental steps. Today, even with the higher numbers, some announcements could have been made. But it wasn't and that's a concern as it indicates the government doesn't have the knowledge or skill/technology to make that happen. As a citizen that's a concern.

Even taking into account the last two days case numbers, the rolling average will still be going down. We'd need the higher case numbers to continue for probably 3-5 days for the average to start going up.

The second issue is the 25km Radius announcement the government made. I can say the extra distance is probably welcome by most people. However the four reasons to leave home appears to have been lost on people. People don't realise the four reasons still apply.

Many people don't realise you just can't go out travelling up to 25km without complying with the four reasons.

Many people don't realise that you can socialise outside with another person, just as you can exercise.

Many people don't realise the 25km radius also applies places of permitted work, where workers can use their workplace as the centre of the 25km radius.

People don't realise the going to other places hasn't started in the metro area and has only started in the regional areas.

The 25km radius message was so strong it overwhelmed the additional conditions of the four reason.

All of this means the communication from the government is failing and people are getting the wrong message.

I am constantly talking with people and letting people know what they can and can't do. These are well educated people. People with their first language as English. If these people don't know what their responsibilities and obligations are, then something is going wrong. The government needs to make sure their message is as clear as possible.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Is the East Preston islamic College and EPIC failure of the DHHS?

My concern, and I'm sure it's a concern of others, is the opening of schools is necessary, but it also represents a huge risk of coronavirus spreading in the community. When I read the statement from the principal of the East Preston Islamic College, it does appear, probably for privacy reasons, important information is not being shared by the DHHS.

https://www.epic.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EPIC-Release-23102020-1.pdf

More can and does need to be done by the DHHS. Most schools now have a nurse on staff (East Preston Islamic College from their site appears to) and we can expect nurses to treat personal information of students as confidential. The principal doesn't even need to be informed of the details, short of perhaps letting them know the nurse is looking after an issue.

What seems to be lacking in this case is a personal schedule for the family where each member of the family is given a timeline of what is expected of them. Printed and explained. Then before any person in the family is able to return to school, the school nurses can make sure the students have been cleared for returning to school.

There is no reason this case should have occurred. It's is not the family's fault. I for one find knowing what I can do, or can't do at times quite difficult. The information provided by the government appears obscure at the best of times. Try calling someone to find out the answers and it's near impossible to get in contact with someone.

Right now the cases are extremely low. In fact so low each case could easily have a single person dedicated to the case. The idea that people will get obscure text messages from possibly private or unknown numbers just doesn't work in today's society, where you can't trust messages and calls from unknown numbers. Scammers right now are taking advantage of the situation.

This would have to be another EPIC failure of the DHHS which is a real pity. You would think after so many months of dealing with COVID-19 things like people going to school when they're potentially infected shouldn't occur. The fact that it did occur isn't the fault of the family. It's a fault of the system currently in place that enabled it to happen.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/

Update: 25 October 2020
9 News has a very good graphic showing the 11 households involved in the East Preston Islamic College outbreak. It is interesting to see how the outbreak originated at a hospital and has now impacted two aged care facilities (staff only at this point). The aged care facilities for the graphic are Regis Macleod and Estia Keilor. Whilst it would be a guess, the hospital outbreak is probably Box Hill. (26/10/2020 Now confirmed worker from Box Hill hospital who contracted virus from patient. Worker worked across wards infecting another staff member and patient.) The Royal Children's and Alfred have had cases around the time but based on location less likely.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-north-melboure-outbreak-everything-we-know-restrictions-delayed/437cea62-2061-4de7-8074-2e8f0e29b32d

What the graphic makes you ponder is the number of households involved. The graphic may suggest households are linked with no other connection, which may suggest households visiting each other. If this is the case, and there's no evidence given it is, it is an important example of why we should not meet each other indoors.

It's also interesting to see how many people in the one household become infected. If there's an infected person in the house it really isn't wise for everyone else to be around the infected person. Earlier stats I read indicated a person will infect 25% of people in the household before they know they're infected. After they know they're infected they're likely to infect 50% of people in the household. Of the 11 households 9 have cases, with three having the entire family infected. The longer families are together the more likely the entire family becomes infected and more cases occur.

If you think about Victoria's lockdown strategy of reopening once the state reaches 5 cases per day (14 day average), one case in a household can lead to other cases even if they're all in quarantine and there's thus no risk to the community. Just numbers of cases increasing. This cluster is 33 cases over 18 days which is nearly 2 cases per day. The hospital outbreak where this started could easily keep the entire state in lockdown. That doesn't make sense since contacts and contacts of contacts can (or should) in theory be quickly identified and quarantined.

25km radius gives workers far more freedom than they probably realise.

One thing I don't think Melburnians may realise is if they go to work, they're also allowed to exercise or socialise (outside) up to 25km from their work. Depending on where they work that can potentially give some people up to 50km range where they can see family and friends for exercise or socialising.

For example, say you work in the city but live in the north or eastern suburbs. That means you could potentially catch up with family and friends as far away as Werribee and down to Mordialloc.

To see where you can go put in the GPS location of your work into www.25kmRadius.com.au and you can see both your home and work locations. That's where you can travel to exercise or socialise.

Now then consider your family and friends also have the ability to travel a 25km radius from their home or work to exercise or socialise. That means you can catch up with people who potentially are up to 50km away from your work or home.

The following is from the Victorian government's website.

Metropolitan Melbourne is in Second Step restrictions. From 11:59pm 18 October 2020 a number of restrictions are easing. The changes to restrictions include:

You can now travel up to 25 km from your home or permitted workplace within metropolitan Melbourne. This replaces the 5km rule. Travel to regional Victoria is still only allowed for permitted purposes even if this is within 25 kms. This means you cannot travel into regional Victoria for exercise or recreation.

Once you realise you now have to option to travel up to 25kms from both your home and permitted workplace, and your family and friends have the same option, that really does open up so many options for all of us.

In a way it's a bit sad that this is exciting. Our freedom has been taken away from us (for good reason) and it's now fun that it's being handed back in small chunks. Just a sign of the times.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria/