Lockdown lifts from Thursday night
The five reasons to leave home will be removed, as part of an easing of restrictions.
Hankering for a haircut? Bursting for a beer?
Then you’ll be pleased to hear restrictions in regional Victoria will ease from tomorrow night.
From 11.59pm on Thursday, September 9, the five reasons to leave home will be removed for regional Victoria (except for Shepparton), and there will be no limit to the distance regional Victorians can travel within the state.
The Premier Daniel Andrews said the low case numbers in regional Victoria “gives us the option to ease restrictions”.
That easing means retail, hospitality, hairdressers and personal beauty services will be allowed to reopen, with density and crowd limits.
Weddings and funerals can go ahead, with a limit of 10 and 20 people respectively.
Childcare centres and kindergartens will reopen and schools will open their doors to Prep to Grace 2 and Year 12 only.
However, restrictions on entry to metropolitan Melbourne will still apply and movement between the city and regional areas is still restricted to specified purposes such as authorised work, care or compassionate reasons, necessary goods and services.
And while you cannot have visitors to your home (except for intimate partners or single person bubbles), public gatherings of up to 10 people are permitted outdoors.
Masks are still required indoors and outdoors unless an exemption applies.
Although he stopped short of announcing a “ring of steel”, the Premier said there will be increased police operations on the metropolitan border to protect regional Victoria.
“Police will also be out in force in regional areas, conducting spot checks to ensure people from Metropolitan Melbourne are not in the regions unless for authorised reasons.
“We are asking all Melburnians to keep doing the right thing, follow the rules and help protect our regional communities,” Mr Andrews said, noting the fine for breaching the Chief Health Officer’s directions is $5452.
The Premier also announced that within Melbourne, single parents could now access childcare and that Victorians in NSW local government border areas could apply for a permit to return and quarantine for 14 days at home, as part of a pilot program for 200 people.
Full details of the regional restrictions will be available on www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au
