Covid-19: Golf, tennis and a 15km travel limit for Victorians from Wednesday

The promise came as Victoria recorded 779 new cases and authorities warned infections were likely to rise following protests and illegal grand final gatherings.

‘It’s not Freedom Day, not the end of lockdown,’ Daniel Andrews told reporters as he announced an easing of restrictions from Wednesday at his Sunday press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

Victorians are set to enjoy a modest easing of Covid restrictions from Wednesday, when the state is set to reach its 80 per cent first-dose vaccination target.

The promise of an increase of the 10km travel limit to 15km and permission to participate in contactless outdoor pursuits such as golf and tennis came as Victoria recorded 779 new Covid cases and two deaths on Sunday, amid warnings from authorities that recent protests and a spike in illegal gatherings over the Grand Final long weekend are likely to see infections increase further in coming days.

As of Saturday, 77.4 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over had received a single dose of Covid vaccine, and 47.4 per cent were fully vaccinated, including 0.5 per cent of the age group who received their first dose on Saturday, and 0.4 per cent who received their second.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he was “not overselling” the easing – set to coincide with reaching the 80 per cent first-dose target – forecast in last week’s road map to be achieved by Sunday, but will instead be reached two days later on Tuesday. “They are modest things. It’s not Freedom Day, not the end of the lockdown,” Mr Andrews said. “That is getting closer every day, though.”

Other changes in Melbourne include permission for personal training to take place outdoors with five fully vaccinated people and a fully vaccinated trainer.

In regional Victoria the outdoor cap for hospitality venues will increase from 20 to 30 patrons, and hair and beauty salons will be permitted to provide services that require the removal of masks.

The government also announced it would trial reopening plans in six regional local government areas from October 11, just over a fortnight before the rest of the state is forecast to be 70 per cent fully vaccinated on October 26.

The government is set to nominate up to 20 trial sites throughout regional Victoria, in six LGAs chosen for their high vaccination rates and low case numbers, including Buloke in the northwest, Warrnambool in the southwest, Pyrenees west of Ballarat, Greater Bendigo in central Victoria, Bass Coast southeast of Melbourne, and East Gippsland in the far east.

Despite six new cases in Geelong on Sunday and one in Surf Coast, both LGAs southwest of Melbourne were set to exit lockdown from midnight Sunday.

The two most recent Victorians confirmed as having died with Covid were a man in his 80s from Moreland and a man in his 70s from Hume, both in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Both were unvaccinated. There were 325 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Sunday, including 73 in intensive care, of whom 54 were on ventilators. Of the 73 in ICU, four were in their 20s and on ventilators, while eight – three on ventilators – were in their 30s.

State Covid logistics chief Jeroen Weimar on Sunday said authorities remained concerned Saturday’s Grand Final could turn out to have been a superspreading event. “If people did use that to get together when they shouldn’t have, there will be people walking out of that with Covid transmission … and our health system will have to pick up the pieces in the weeks ahead,” he said.

Mr Weimar also confirmed a Geelong man in his 30s had become the second person to test positive after attending last week’s Melbourne protests.