Almost a dozen more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed at a Melbourne meat processing facility, as the state government reveals another $491 million in tax relief and frozen fees.
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Treasurer Tim Pallas on Tuesday confirmed 17 new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, 11 of which are connected to a cluster of infected workers at the Cedar Meats facility in Brooklyn.
The first case at the facility was confirmed more than a month ago, but the plant was not considered an exposure site, The Australian newspaper reports.
The department of health said the first case was recorded on April 2 but the person infected had not been at work while contagious, so the workplace was not considered an exposure site.
The second case linked to the workplace was diagnosed on April 24, followed by a third case the day after.
The department then took further action, including testing all staff, on April 29.
All 350 staff were tested for COVID-19 by May 1 and the site has been shut down. A total of 45 cases have now been linked to the plant.
"This is the nature of the pandemic event, you will see clusters emerge over time," Mr Pallas said.
The new cases have brought the state's tally so far to 1423, although only 112 are active. Twelve people are in hospital, including six in intensive care.
On a day when he was meant to deliver Victoria's now-delayed budget, Mr Pallas also revealed an extra $491 million in virus relief measures.
Businesses participating in the federal government's JobKeeper scheme will be exempt from payroll tax, at a cost of about $225 million to the state.
They also won't have to pay WorkCover premiums on payments to their employees if their staff are currently stood down, costing the state about $200 million.
There are more than 80,000 businesses in Victoria who are either participating in JobKeeper or have expressed interest in doing so.
Some fines and fees will also be kept at their current rates in the coming year to save Victorians from coughing up about $66 million.
They include drivers licences and vehicle registration and the fire services property levy.
"The last thing we want to do is to add to pressures on people who are currently dealing with the difficulties associated with the pandemic event," Mr Pallas told reporters.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien said the government shouldn't be congratulated for not taxing JobKeeper payments.
"It wasn't the state government's money in the first place ... that money is designed to protect Victorian jobs and help Victorian businesses," he told reporters.
The coalition is also appealing to the government to focus on easing lockdowns, after new data showed Victoria had the highest fall in employee jobs of any Australian jurisdiction between March 14 and April 18.
It recorded an 8.6 per cent decline in the period, followed by Tasmania which fell by eight per cent.
Victoria also experienced a 9.2 per cent fall in total wages in that period, just behind Tasmania which had the highest fall of 9.3 per cent.
Victoria's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee has begun a public inquiry into the Andrews' government's response to the pandemic.
Australian Associated Press
