by Michaela Meade
Victoria’s “short, sharp circuit breaker” lockdown will be over from 11.59pm tonight.
Premier Daniel Andrews this morning announced there were no new cases of COVID-19, and that restrictions are able to be partially eased.
The four reasons to leave your home, as well as the five-kilometre travel limit, will no longer apply from midnight.
Masks are required to be worn indoors, everywhere except at your own home, and outdoors where it is not possible to socially distance.
Five visitors are allowed to a home, until Friday of next week, while 20 people from any number of households are allowed to have public gatherings.
Schools will reopen.
Up to 50 per cent of workers in the public and private sector can return to the office.
Hospitality, retail and reopen and religious gatherings and ceremonies will resume with density limits the same as before the latest lockdown.
Funerals and weddings will have no limits on numbers, but need to meet venue density limits indoors and outdoors.
“The size of [those events] will be dictated by the space in which they are held,” Mr Andrews said.
Sport and recreation activities can resume.
Community facilities, entertainment venues and all other public places will be able to reopen, with limits to crowd sizes in place.
Hospitals and care facilities are limited to one household visit per day, with specific exceptions for palliative care.
“The last thing we want is for someone to be visiting a sick relative, and in fact making other people sick or in any way contributing to the spread of this virus,” Mr Andrews said.
“I know that is inconvenient, but they are the rules that have to be in place.”
Mr Andrews said he hoped to ease restrictions further next Friday, when the incubation period for the latest positive cases comes to an end.
“The issue is not over and the virus is not gone,” Mr Andrews said.
“These are very important announcements. I of course acknowledge the very difficult circumstances that many have faced, but there was simply no alternative but to follow the advice provided.”
Mr Andrews emphasised the importance of people getting tested if they experience even mild symptoms.
