SOLDIERS and police roadblocks could be used to enforce a hard boundary between central Victoria and locked-down areas in and near Melbourne.
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The Victorian government announced a return to Stage 3 COVID-19 restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire on Tuesday afternoon.
Greater Bendigo, Mount Alexander, and the Macedon Ranges all adjoin council areas in which people are required to stay home from Wednesday night.
Premier Daniel Andrews flagged roadblocks and "command centres" to ensure the boundary between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria was not breached illegally.
He described the regional Victorian-Melbourne border as a "hard boundary".
Both major arterial routes and minor roads run through the boundaries between council areas on high restrictions, and central Victoria.
These include the Calder Freeway, and the Northern Highway.
AAP reports hundreds of Australian Defence Force troops have been deployed to help ring fence Melbourne.
Mr Andrews has asked the prime minister for 260 ADF personnel to help with on-the-ground support for putting closures in place across Melbourne.
It comes on top of those already deployed to guard the Victoria-NSW border, which will close from midnight on Tuesday.
These troops will support police operations, without directly involving themselves in law enforcement.
Victoria Police have confirmed they will use booze buses and mobile police facilities to monitor the border between locked down and non-locked down areas.
These have been used in several Melbourne postcodes which returned to Stage 3 restrictions last week.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the monitoring facilities would be deployed in and around metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, so police could randomly check on drivers and passengers to explain their reason for travel.
Read more: Police target Melbourne COVID-19 hotspots
These will shift locations during each shift.
Police will also patrol other areas of the state in vehicles and on foot.
The new restrictions means residents of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire will only be able to leave their house for essential shopping, care, daily exercise, and work or study that cannot be done from home.
With AAP.
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