The latest changes to regional Victoria's COVID-19 restrictions have come as welcome relief for some local business owners, but others hope for more.
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Among them is Bendigo dance teacher Sharon Saunders, who owns Sharon Saunders Dancers.
Dance studios were facing a shutdown until November, but fought to reopen sooner.
They will now be permitted to open to students aged under 18, after November 1.
"It's really nice to have the government stand up and hear us," Mrs Saunders said.
She said the change meant she and her team could now plan for reopening with a set date in sight.
Having worked in accordance with school terms, Mrs Saunders said her studio looked to remain closed until February had it not been for yesterday's announcement.
"We can now finish the year with a bit of excitement for the kids," she said.
She thanked the community for their support, and said one positive to come out of the ordeal was seeing the industry unite, with a new alliance formed about six weeks ago.
For some in the hospitality sector, the excitement is muted because space and density rules remain the same, limiting the impact of the changes.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants can have up to 40 people indoors (plus 70 outdoors) after 11.59pm Sunday, but there will still be a maximum of 10 people allowed in each indoor space and a maximum of four people per square metre.
Brougham Arms Hotel owner Luke Macumber said it looked like he would be able to increase the number of customers at any one time from 20 to 30, having three separate indoor spaces.
"It's a little bit better, just baby steps in moving forward," Mr Macumber said.
"But it's better than nothing."
Having the same density limits remain in place means some smaller venues are unable to take advantage of the new rules at all, as they do not have enough separate spaces or floor space.
Mr Macumber said he would next like to see these limits relaxed, to allow more people indoors.
"If they brought in the two [square] metre rule, that would be enough for us to go almost back to normal," he said.