There are new calls for the Victorian Government to change its isolation rules for household contacts, with a fifth of workers currently being furloughed as a result.
Victorian head of the Australian Industry Group Tim Piper told 3AW on Wednesday the isolation rules need to be reconsidered to help businesses and manufacturers which are struggling because their staff are locked away at home.
“What we’re finding is that so many venues now and businesses are finding it very hard to get people to work,” Mr Piper said.
“The manufacturingxjmtzyw plants we’re talking to … I think it’s amazing we haven’t had any gaps on our supermarket shelves already.
“We’re finding that about 20 per cent of the workers are actually being furloughed for one reason or another, and this (the isolation rules) is the major reason.”
While Mr Piper acknowledged the situation could possibly get worse if more infected people head to work, he said people usually know whether they have the virus after their initial period in isolation.
“What we’d like to do is reduce the seven days down to three or four,” Mr Piper said.
“We’re going to have problems around supplies at Easter time because we simply don’t have enough people to work, and that’s on top of the lack of skills and the lack of people we have working at the moment.”
