By Luke Voogt
COVID-19 restrictions in Geelong and the rest of regional Victoria could ease at midnight tomorrow, acting premier James Merlino has announced.
With no community transmission in regional Victoria this week, Mr Merlino today announced restrictions would ease dependent on the next 24 hours.
“We’ll use the next 24 hours to continue tracing and testing and confirm that this change can go ahead,” he said.
The foreshadowed changes include lifting travel restrictions and the five reasons for leaving home in regional Victoria.
All students will return to face-to-face schooling, while public outdoor gatherings will be allowed to increase to 10 people.
Restaurants and cafés can reopen to a maximum of 50 customers, with retail, beauty and personal care, entertainment venues and community facilities to reopen in line with density limits.
Religious ceremonies and funerals will be capped at 50, weddings at 10. Offices will be capped at 50 per cent capacity.
But visitors to the home will still be prohibited under the new restrictions.
The new restrictions will also require regional Victorians to wear masks when inside, except when at home, or while seated, eating and drinking at restaurants and cafes.
“Finally, regional Victorians will be able to travel in regional Victoria. Melburnians will not,” Mr Merlino said.
Restrictions in Melbourne will only ease slightly at midnight tomorrow from the current snap lockdown levels, and those slightly-eased restrictions will remain in place for the following seven days.
Mr Merlino urged Melburnians to refrain from leaving the city to take advantage of the planned easing of restrictions in regional Victoria.
“I need to be really clear, stopping the spread – and getting our whole state back to normal – means knowing the restrictions that apply to you, and sticking to them.
“We’ve seen examples of people who left Melbourne, broke the rules and took the virus with them. We do not want that to happen again.”
To that end, businesses that reopen in Victoria “must check the IDs of everyone they serve”, Mr Merlino said.
“We’ll also expand our QR requirements to make it mandatory in retail settings like supermarkets and shops.
“The 15-minute threshold will also be removed so anyone entering a shop or a cafe will need to check-in.
“We know it’s an extra ask on staff and customers – but ultimately, it’s about keeping your community safe.
“I know this news is tough for every Victorian, every family and every business in this state.
“But the Chief Health Officer has no choice but to give this advice. And the government has no choice but to follow it.
“If we don’t, this thing will get away from us and people will die. No one wants to repeat last winter.
“To stop that from happening, we need every Victorian to follow the rules, to get tested and to get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”
