Thousands of shops, factories and corporate businesses will close across Melbourne after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews ordered them to shut to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Andrews announced the new restrictions after Victoria recorded 429 new coronavirus cases and 13 more deaths overnight, equalling its deadliest day since the pandemic began.
Under the new restrictions, hairdressers, call centres and many retail businesses will be forced to close.
Shops that can remain open under stage four include supermarkets, food stores, liquor shops, petrol stations, pharmacies, convenience stores, newsagents, post offices and outlets selling disability and maternity supplies.
But hardware, building and garden stores will be open to tradespeople only, with the public limited to contactless 'click and collect' pick-up only.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he could not guarantee "every single item that you might normally buy" would be on the shelves, but the essentials would be there.
"People do not need to be going and buying six weeks' worth of groceries," he said.
"That sense of panic is simply misplaced.
Meatworks will be required to reduce their output by a third, clothe workers in full personal protective equipment (PPE) and carry out temperature checks on employees.
This will apply to all abattoirs across the state, not just those in Melbourne, after the sector was hit particularly hard by coronavirus outbreaks.
'Hundreds of thousands' of workers need to stay home, Premier says
Mr Andrews said construction was the "lifeblood" of the Victorian economy but it would be reduced to a "pilot light" phase for the next six weeks.
He said the sector could be broken into three groups: major Government projects would look at reducing staff safely, large construction sites of more than three storeys would need to reduce their workforce to no more than 25 per cent, and domestic home construction could continue with no more than five people on site.
He said it had been a "very difficult" decision.
"But unless we have literally hundreds of thousands of people at home and not going to work ... then we will not pull this virus up, we will not see those numbers reduce," Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews estimated across all industries, about 500,000 people were already working from home and about 250,000 had been stood down since the pandemic began.
The changes announced today are expected to see another 250,000 workers stay home for the duration of stage four restrictions.
"That is essentially a million workers who are not travelling to and from work every day," Mr Andrews said.
Eight of 13 deaths linked to aged care
The 13 deaths were a man aged in his 60s, two men and a woman in their 70s, two men in their 80s and five women and two men in their 90s.
Eight of the deaths were linked to aged care outbreaks.
The latest deaths take the state's COVID-19 death toll to 136.
There are now 6,489 active coronavirus cases across the state, including 706 health care workers and 1,089 cases linked to aged care outbreaks.
The largest aged care outbreak in Victoria remains St Basil's in Fawkner, in Melbourne's north, which has been linked to 139 cases.
Outside of aged care, meatworks remain among the state's biggest clusters, with 148 cases linked to Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown, 129 cases linked to Somerville Retail Services in Tottenham, 86 cases linked to JBS in Brooklyn and 77 cases linked to the Australian Lamb Company in Colac, in the state's south-west.
Health authorities are also investigating a case linked to the Northern Hospital's intensive care unit, as well as new cases linked to Qantas Freight and the Melbourne United basketball club.
There are 416 COVID-19 patients in Victorian hospitals, 35 of whom are in intensive care units.
More to come.
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2020-08-03 05:17:00Z
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