Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed the 25-kilometre travel limit in Melbourne and the "ring of steel" separating the city from regional Victoria will be lifted, as part of widespread relaxing of restrictions in the state.
The restrictions will be lifted from 11:59pm tonight.
It means the rules that are currently in place for regional Victoria will apply to the entire state.
The state has had nine consecutive "double doughnut" days of no new infections or coronavirus deaths, bringing the rolling 14-day average down to just 0.4.
There are now just four confirmed active cases across the entire state.
From tomorrow, restaurants and pubs will have their density limits increased to 40 patrons indoors and 70 outside.
Gyms and indoor sports centres will be able to operate with up to 20 people, subject to strict density limits.
Religious ceremonies will be increased to 50 people outside. However, this change will not apply to weddings yet.
Theatres and cinemas can also reopen, with 20 patrons per space.
Hospital and care facility visitation restrictions have been slightly relaxed to allow one household to visit a patient or resident for up to two hours.
Previously, visitors had only been allowed if they had specific exemptions.
Tourist accommodation across the state will now be open, with limits in place for who can make bookings.
Mr Andrews said a tourism campaign would be launched to encourage people to visit Gippsland, which was hit hard by bushfires over the summer.
Home visitor restrictions slightly eased, masks remain
Victorians will be allowed to have two different adult visitors and their dependents per day, either together or separately.
Previously, Melburnians could only have up to two adults from the same household in a home.
Intimate partners or people who normally live at the home continue to be excluded from the two-person limit.
There is no change to the rules on public gatherings, meaning up to 10 people from any number of households can continue to meet in public. Infants under one year old are still excluded from the cap.
Mask-wearing will remain mandatory in public, which Mr Andrews called an "insurance policy".
Those who can work from home must continue to work from home under the new rules.
"The time will come when we can change that but that is not now," Mr Andrews said.
Next step set to be taken on November 22
Further restrictions are set to be lifted on November 22 if cases remain low, including allowing up to 10 people at indoor private gatherings and up to 50 outdoors.
Density quotients are expected to be lifted for sport and recreation.
But Mr Andrews again urged Victorians to stay vigilant and continue to be tested for even mild symptoms.
"Nine days of zero is not the same as a vaccine," Mr Andrews said.
The Government has shifted its slogan from "staying apart keeps us together" to "stay safe, stay open".
"Today is the day to be positive and optimistic about the future, but the constant refrain has got to be, stay safe in order to stay open," Mr Andrews said.
State of emergency remains in place, state of disaster to be lifted
Victoria has been living under both a state of disaster and a state of emergency for months.
Mr Andrews said the state of disaster, which was introduced when the citywide curfew and other measures came into place under stage 4 lockdown, would not be extended.
"Because while the virus is still with us, we will be in a place where we do not need to have that legislative instrument in place any longer, and that's good news," he said.
The state of emergency, which has been in place since March, will be extended.
Read the Premier's full statement:
Nothing about this year has been easy.
But the hardest thing of all has been missing the people we love most.
Collectively, we've missed the big moments and the small.
Birthdays and barbeques. Special dinners and cups of tea.
Those things we didn't even know we'd miss — until we realised just how precious they really were.
But we did it. Because staying apart meant keeping each other safe.
Today, because of that sacrifice, our state can be whole again. Families will be whole again too.
From 11:59pm tonight, the boundary between Melbourne and regional Victoria will come down.
The 25-kilometre limit will no longer be in place.
And Victorians will be able to make up for lost time with loved ones.
There're some other changes too.
The rules that currently apply to regional Victoria will apply to the whole state — wherever you live.
For Melbourne, that means visits to the home will be relaxed — a little.
You can still only have a maximum of two people to visit per day. Going forward though, those two people don't need to be from the same household, and they'll be able to come at different times.
It's really important that people stick within these rules. The data is very clear on this: so many of our recent outbreaks were connected to home visits
Home is where we relax, where we feel comfortable — which is precisely why it's so dangerous.
There'll be other changes for Melbourne too. Restaurants, pubs and cafes will be able to host up to 40 customers indoors and 70 outdoors.
Gyms and indoor sporting facilities can open with up to 20 — subject to strict density limits. Indoor sport for those 18 and under can recommence.
Indoor religious ceremonies will be increased to 20, with 50 allowed outside. The same numbers will apply to funerals, but there's no change to weddings — for now.
Community spaces like libraries or RSLs and neighbourhood houses can have up to 20 indoors, with groups of up to ten.
And accommodation will be able to open — because frankly, Victorians have earned a break.
There are some other changes that we've been able to bring forward.
From tonight, and across the state, indoor entertainment venues will be able to open with 20 people per space.
That means movie theatres, galleries, museums and music halls will now be able to open.
Something that I know will mean a whole lot to a whole lot of families, the rules around visiting aged care and hospitals will also be relaxed.
Instead of a specific number of visitors — a household will be able to visit together. Once per day and limited to two hours.
Those under 16 will also be able to visit hospitals. And the time limit for partners visiting maternity wards will no longer exist.
Individual hospitals and facilities though may continue to have their own policies — reflecting the needs of their patients and whatever the virus might be doing in our community.
Reflecting the progress we've made — the State of Disaster will not be renewed. But because the virus is still very much with us, the State of Emergency will be extended until 6 December to allow the Chief Health Officer's directions to remain in force.
From 22 November — and in line with the public health advice — Victoria is on track to reach the Last Step in our roadmap towards reopening.
Private gatherings will be able to increase to 10 people.
Gatherings for religious services, weddings and funerals will also increase too.
Our hospitality venues will be able to have up to 100 indoors, 200 outside.
There'll also be increases for other indoor venues like cinemas and gym and galleries.
More detail about other changes will be made available online.
Of course, in getting there — we'll continue to rely on the advice of our public health experts.
And we'll continue to rely on the efforts of every Victorian.
By now everyone knows the drill when it comes to keeping safe — so I won't waste words. But I will say this:
We have worked so hard. We have given up so much. And together, we've come so far.
We've got to protect it.
So, let's stay safe, stay open — and keep going.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTExLTA4L2RhbmllbC1hbmRyZXdzLWNvbmZpcm1zLXZpY3Rvcmlhbi1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1yZXN0cmljdGlvbnMtbGlmdC8xMjg2MTA4MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjg2MTA4Mg?oc=5
2020-11-07 23:18:00Z
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