As it happened: Victoria records 114 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths for Sunday; NSW hopes clusters reduce as Australian death toll passes 600

Earlier this month, staff at HubSpot were told they had a choice to make as the Boston-based software company planned to reopen its offices

By January, employees could choose whether they wished to come into the office on most days, continue to work from home or decide on a middle ground such as coming into the office two days a week or fewer.

The third option, the so-called "flex" approach, is the one many of the world's white-collar workers dream of as the pandemic subsides. The instant experiment in working from home that accompanied nationwide lockdowns has brought benefits in terms of less commuting, more flexibility and often improved productivity.

It also has downsides: sharing cramped homes with partners, housemates and children, or alternatively, social isolation.

Most office workers now dream of weeks in which they can choose to come into an office as and when they please. A recent study from strategy firms Iometrics and Global Workplace Analytics found that two days a week was the most popular choice when staff were surveyed on how often they would like to work from home.

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Almost two thirds of Victoria's additional COVID-19 cases announced on Sunday are still under investigation, with no source yet known.

With 114 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, 40 of today's cases are linked to outbreaks while 74 are still being investigated by contact tracers.

There are now 2830 active cases across the state, a drop of 153 compared to Saturday according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

City of Wyndham - which takes in Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Point Cook - has the highest number cases for a single local government area with 303. Brimbank has 269 cases and Hume has 193.

Households are using the pandemic year to build their nest eggs and gird against recession, with savings and investments trending higher since the start of 2020.

The average total balance of Commonwealth Bank savings accounts and term deposits, which accounts for a large portion of the market, is up 5 per cent over the January-July period. That would be boosted by the $33.3 billion in superannuation withdrawals under the federal government's emergency early-access scheme.

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Stephen Halmarick said the recession was "real for people who have lost their jobs" and there was more pain to come since the bank expected unemployment to rise from 7.5 to 9 per cent by the end of this year.

However, the overall numbers showed that so far, many people had maintained or increased their incomes during COVID-19 and were making precautionary savings.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, total household income grew 4 per cent a year according to the Commonwealth Bank's figures. It has grown 11 per cent a year between January and August 21, 2020. Low growth in salaries and wages, including the JobKeeper payment, was offset by increased government benefits.

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