Daniel Andrews’ rule: visit the pub but not your parents after lockdown lifts

Victoria’s fifth lockdown has been lifted, with schools, gyms, retail, beauty, office, community sport and hospitality venues all able to reopen from Wednesday.

Daniel Andrews in Melbourne. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Victoria’s fifth lockdown has been lifted, with schools, gyms, retail, beauty, office, community sport and hospitality venues all able to reopen from Wednesday.

However, restrictions on visits to private homes remain, making it legal to meet a group of friends at a restaurant, but not to go to a parent’s house for dinner.

Masks are also set to remain compulsory indoors and out for the foreseeable future, with footy and theatre crowds banned for at least the next fortnight.

After 12 days in what was originally announced as a five-day lockdown, Victorians are from Wednesday no longer restricted to five reasons to leave home and a 5km travel limit, with the outdoor gathering limit increased from two to 10.

Victorian Premier Daniel ­Andrews said the easing of restrictions was a “good day” but warned some restrictions would stay in place until the majority of Australia was vaccinated.

“This is a good day and I’m deeply grateful to every Victorian for making it possible and deeply grateful for every member of the public health team and their excellent work,” Mr Andrews said.

“It’s not over though, and we’ve got to be vigilant against this virus, the Delta strain, in the days and weeks and months ahead until we get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can. That is some time away.”

Masks will also remain ­compulsory for students aged over 12, as children and parents ­receive a reprieve from home schooling.

Patron limits at hospitality ­venues will be capped at 100 ­indoors and 300 outdoors, with a density limit indoors of one person per 4sq m.

Funerals and weddings will both be capped at 50, with dance floors banned.

Mr Andrews urged those who could continue working from home to do so, as offices reopen to a maximum of 10 staff or 25 per cent – whichever is greater.

Victorians travelling to ski ­resorts will be required to test negative for coronavirus in the 72 hours prior to travel, and multiple households will not be permitted to share holiday accommodation.

Mr Andrews justified the ban on home gatherings by arguing that hospitality venues offered a more controlled environment than private homes.

“There’s no QR codes at Mum and Dad’s place, no industrial cleaning, not the measures we have at a hospo venue,” he said.

 

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said “80 per cent” of transmission in Sydney’s current outbreak was happening in private homes.

“If there are loved ones that you haven’t seen, see them in a park, go for a walk outside, wear a mask,” Professor Sutton said.

Victoria recorded 10 new community acquired cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number linked to the current outbreaks to 190.

All of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday’s cases were in quarantine during their infectious period, but nine new exposure sites possibly linked to a subsequent case were listed on Tuesday afternoon. The sites were all rated as Tier 2 – requiring attendees to isolate only until they receive a negative test, and relate to venues in Albert Park, the Melbourne CBD, Prahran and Balaclava, in central and inner-southeastern suburbs, on July 15.

Of Tuesday’s new cases, two were people who had returned positive results 13 days after ­attending the Wallabies v France rugby match at AAMI Park on July 13, despite having tested negative earlier in their quarantine period.