Victoria’s lockdown is set to end on Tuesday night – but officials are warning the threat of Delta still looms over the state.
Speaking on Tuesday 27 July, Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that the lockdown would end at 11.59pm that night with the five reasons to leave home removed.
Schools will reopen for all year levels on Wednesday 28 July and the five kilometre travel limit as well as the two hour limit on exercise have also been removed.
Pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars will be able to reopen for 100 people inside and 300 outside, with a density limit of one person per four square metres.
Gyms will reopen with a similar density quotient, along with live music venues and dance classes.
Community sport will also make a return.
Public gatherings are limited to ten people, with 50 people allowed at weddings and funerals.
Retail and beauty and personal care will open in line with density limits, as will entertainment venues and community facilities.
Masks will still be required at all times indoors and outdoors.
The Authorised Worker List will no longer apply, meaning businesses and venues can reopen with capacity and density limits of one person per four square metres.
Victoria will return to the rule that ‘if you can work from home, you should work from home’ but office workers will be able to return up to 25 per cent or up to 10 people, whichever is greater.
Visitors to the home will not be allowed however, with the Premier citing the higher risk of transmission in the home – as evidenced, he said, by the number of household contacts who had tested positive over the latest lockdown.
Mr Andrews said the changes were “significant” and would be locked in for two weeks.
But he added if it was possible to change the settings sooner, they would be adjusted.
The Premier stressed that the threat of Covid had not disappeared despite the changes.
“It has not gone away,” he said.
“It is under control, but it is in our country.”
He said he was grateful to Victorians for doing the right thing over the lockdown period.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said three things had gotten Victoria to this point: “fast and thorough” contact tracing, the lockdown, and a commitment to following the rules.
“With each of those components working together we’re on the cusp of containing our second Delta outbreak,” he said.
Victoria currently has 188 active cases of Covid. Seven people are in hospital, with two of those in ICU and one on a ventilator.
