UPDATED: Supply storm brewing

Localised hail and storms swept through north of Shepparton on Friday afternoon and heavier falls were recorded in the north-east, however most centres in the Goulburn Valley recorded between 5mm and 30mm.

Fruit Growers Victoria’s Michael Crisera said generally those rain tallies should not affect stone fruit such as nectarines and peaches, due to be harvested soon, but growers would hope there was not too much more rain.

The lingering humidity is of concern and he urged stone fruit growers to be vigilant about brown rot. The BoM had also issued a Brown Rot Advice for large parts of the state.

Mr Crisera said pear growers should be on the lookout for disease, too.

“Black spot is a risk after these sort of conditions ... it may take a few days to appear, so growers should keep an eye out for it,” he said.

But COVID-19 may prove to be a bigger threat to growers preparing to get their fruit picked, packed, stored and transported.

“The Omicron variant could be challenging for logistics — as well as the ongoing impacts on labour,” Mr Crisera said.

“We work closely with the health authorities and they are advising that Omicron could peak at the end of January, and level out during February before dropping off at the end of the month, which is a key time for growers.”

He encouraged growers to make sure all parts of their supply chain were organised.

Transport and agriculture bodies have also flagged supply chain concerns.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said if there were less workers maintaining supply chains, the more vulnerable they became, which threatened food security.

“We warned both the federal and Victorian governments in October last year of this very scenario, and to see this eventuate months later is incredibly frustrating,” Ms Germano said.

Ms Germano said there needed to be an urgent rethink of quarantine rules and a fast-track of rapid antigen tests (RATs) for supply chain workers to ensure capacity.

“To help safeguard our essential supply chains, asymptomatic workers deemed close contacts of COVID-19 cases must have their isolation period reduced, much in the same way as healthcare workers.

“Workers need to have a reliable access of a RAT and decision makers must prioritise this.

“Time is ticking, we need action, leadership and guidance now.”

Unions expressed concern about decisions to wind back close contact isolation requirements for asymptomatic transport workers, saying it would threaten the health and safety of workers and exacerbate disruption within the supply chain.

“We know even if you’re asymptomatic you can still spread the virus,” Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine said.

“Requiring potentially sick people to go to work won’t make supply chains healthy. Sick drivers won't get stock onto supermarket shelves any faster but it will certainly help the virus hitch a ride across Australia.”

NSW requires asymptomatic close contacts to wear masks and take daily rapid antigen tests, but the union said RATs alone did not offer enough protection as they would not pick up every COVID-19 case.

"To rebuild a healthy workforce we need to have isolation requirements and rapid testing working together — we can't have one without the other. Testing combined with precautionary isolation is our best defence against this virus,“ Mr Kaine said.

“The TWU wrote to the prime minister and National Cabinet in September and October urging governments to provide rapid tests to road transport workers to avoid unnecessary delays and keep drivers on the road.

"Instead, we have a completely predictable scenario where drivers are delivering rapid tests to be sold on the shelves of supermarkets and pharmacies — but they, like most Australians, can't access them themselves."

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the federal government was working to address supply chain issues after the prime minister convened an urgent meeting with his top ministers and bureaucrats on Sunday.

"We are dealing with (supermarket staff shortages) and making sure we keep people at work because that's how we keep food on the shelf," he said.

The head of the vaccine roll out Lieutenant General John Frewen said distribution also remained a problem for the vaccine as children aged between five and 11 become eligible for their first dose.

"Supply of vaccines now isn't the concern. Distribution is our hardest challenge," he said.

"We're working around the clock to make sure that we're getting the vaccines out to all of the places we can get them to."

UPDATE:

The Victorian Government has introduced changes to isolation requirements for some workers in the supply chain effective from 11:59pm Wednesday January 12.

"(So Victorians) can continue to access essential food supplies, workers in the manufacturing, distribution or packaging of food and beverages including retail supermarket workers may be exempted from close contact isolation requirements in order to attend work from 11.59pm Wednesday 12 January, if it is necessary for continuity of operations and other options have been exhausted.“ the Victorian Government said in a statement.

“To mitigate risks, exempted workers must be asymptomatic, undertake daily RATs for five days and return a negative result prior to attending work. They can’t enter shared break areas, and employers are asked to facilitate solo break time.

“In addition, face coverings must be worn, using N95/P2 respirators if possible. Both the worker and workplace must consent to the worker’s return.

“This new close contact isolation exemption for asymptomatic food distribution workers is similar to the arrangements already in place for critical healthcare workers.

“Information on updated COVIDSafe settings and third dose vaccination requirements will be published at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au when the orders come into effect at 11:59pm January 12.”