By Luke Voogt
Restrictions are set to ease significantly in regional Victoria on Thursday, following an announcement by Premier Daniel Andrews today.
Mr Andrews announced regional Victoria would move to the third step of his government’s reopening roadmap at 11.59pm on Wednesday.
“Today is testament to the determination of regional Victorians,” he said.
“A determination to not only get these numbers low –but to keep them low.”
The third step allows regional Victorians to have five visitors at their home from one other nominated household, plus any children aged 12-months-old and under from that household.
The visitor ‘bubble’ is an exclusive arrangement, with visitors only permitted to move between the two households.
Neither household can nominate a another household, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) explained.
The third step allows people to gather outside in groups of up to 10 and leave home without restrictions.
The step also allows restaurants and cafes to reopen with a group limit of 10 and a focus on outdoor service.
Hospitality businesses will be able to serve a maximum of 50 seated patrons per venue outdoors with a two square metre density limit.
Indoors, venues can open with a cap of 10 seated customers per space – with up to two spaces per venue and a four square metre density rule.
Venues must space tables at least 1.5m apart, clean them after every customer and keep the details of all patrons.
Outdoor contact and non-contact sport will begin for regional Victorians aged 18 and under, as well as outdoor non-contact sport for adults.
All retail and hairdressers can open, as well as beauty services where a face covering can be worn for the duration of service.
The step allows weddings with up to 10 people, funerals with up to 20 people and outdoor religious gatherings of up to 10 people.
Regional Victorians will now be able to travel to other parts of the state except Melbourne, which is still under a higher level of restrictions.
Under the step, regional Victorian students will commence a staged return to onsite learning in term 4 with safety measures in place.
Regional Victoria’s average new daily cases for the past fortnight dropped to 3.6 yesterday with no cases from an unknown source, meeting the two trigger points for a move to the third step.
A DHHS spokesperson said masks would “remain a tool in our fight against coronavirus for the foreseeable future”.
“We have seen that there is more and more evidence to support the use of masks in slowing the spread of coronavirus.
“They are relatively inexpensive, accessible, and not too much of an imposition.
