VICTORIA will come out of its extended lockdown from 11.59pm tonight, however strict rules will remain in place.
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Under the eased restrictions, schools, retail and hospitality businesses will all reopen with strict density limits.
Masks remain mandatory indoors and outdoors and visitors to the home will remain off-limits.
What has changed?
Premier Daniel Andrews said there was a lot of good news today, but there are still a lot of restrictions in place.
From 11:59pm tonight for a period of two weeks, these rules remain in place:
- Restaurants, bars, cafes and pubs will be allowed to reopen, but will be under a density quotient of 1 person per 4 sqm, as well as patron caps of 100 inside, 300 outside.
- No visitors to homes
- Public gatherings will be allowed with up to 10 people, with infants under 12 months not included in the cap.
- Live music venues, dance classes and physical recreation facilities, including gyms, will all open with density requirements of 1 person per 4sqm.
- A maximum of 50 people will be permitted at weddings. Funerals will also have a cap of 50 mourners, plus those conducting the funeral. Infants under 12 months are not included in the cap for either.
- All students can return to the classroom tomorrow.
- Community sport can resume for both children and adults.
- Ski fields will be open but require a negative test to enter.
- Masks remain mandatory indoors and outdoors.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said people should still visit people, but just not at their homes.
"Although you can't visit homes, if there are loved ones you haven't seen, see them in a park, go for a walk outside, wear a mask and catch up with them but please don't visit homes," he said.
"That rule is very important.
"Eight per cent of transmission is happening in Sydney right now where most transmission happens in normal circumstances.
"We've seen it from the most recent days where cases turning positive now have been household contact of our existing cases.
"So the restrictions on gatherings in the home remain. You can't have people over."
Other news:
The statewide lockdown was called on July 15 and initially slated to run five days before it was extended to 11.59pm on Tuesday, as contact tracers struggled to chase down people before they turned positive.
The outbreak was seeded by a NSW removalist crew who passed the virus on to residents of Maribyrnong's Ariele Apartments and a separate family who returned from NSW.
On Tuesday, police revealed the three-person removalist crew will not face any criminal charges despite not wearing masks on the job, in a breach of the worker permits.
- AAP
More to come.
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