Coronavirus: Everything is on the table, says Daniel Andrews

Victoria will move a decisive step towards COVID normal after another day of very low virus numbers.

An anti-lockdown protester is held at a rally near Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The dumping of restrictions on city and country travel and the staged reopening of hospitality and retail are being debated by Victorian public health officials after further evidence Australia’s second coronavirus wave has all but been defeated.

The government will outline on Sunday an accelerated timetable for reopening, with plans to detail when the 25km city travel limit will end and the removal of the so-called ring of steel preventing metropolitan drivers travelling to country areas.

Public health officials and cabinet ministers will debate the reopening over the weekend, with sources indicating the outcome was “entirely fluid” but that some changes may still be delayed to guarantee an orderly transition to so-called COVID normal.

However, a timetable would be released to enable businesses to plan for the future.

Officials will examine traffic patterns amid evidence on Friday that people were gathering in their hundreds in key city destinations after being starved of freedom during the winter lockdown caused by the hotel quarantine debacle.

Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters also caused difficulties for police, one assaulting a police horse, as they gathered near Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.

“Everything is on the table,” Premier Daniel Andrews said on Friday, adding that he was hopeful that interstate borders would be open by the end of the year.

On the 25km limit and ring of steel, he added: “I will have more to say about those arrangements on Sunday — 25km, regional/metro border — all of those issues are being looked at very, very closely and we will have those different restrictio­ns in place only for so long as they serve a public health benefit and help us to keep the numbers low so we can keep opening up.’’

Only one new case was report­ed on Friday, no lives were lost and the rolling 14-day average has fallen to just 5.5; there were 10 mystery cases in the fortnight to October 20, with the possibility of those falling to seven by Sunday.

The harsh lockdown, while controversial, has delivered a ­stunning turnaround in Victorian fortunes, with Mr Andrews lamenting­ the 725 new daily cases that Victoria recently recorded.

Scott Morrison urged Mr And­rews to continue on the path to reopening. “Where Victoria has been able to get to now, we’re very pleased that those numbers are low,” the Prime Minister said. “Obviously that provides the oppor­tunity to open up again.

“The shutdown in Melbourne has had an obviously terrible impact on Victorians on their mental health and their economy. The Premier knows that and we continue to encourage the government to continue reopening.”

Sunday’s announcement is likely to include more detail on how the government will seek to help businesses recover and prepar­e Victorians for summer.

However, it will continue the cautious approach to activities that are conducted indoors because of the evidence that shows this is where the virus is high-risk, as well as in family settings.

Mr Andrews said he was confident that there would be flights into Melbourne again from overseas by Christmas. “That’s certainly our aim,’’ he said. “We need to put arrangements in place that everyone can have confidence in.”

The government said the new case was the parent of a student at the East Preston Islamic College, but no contact had been established by health officials between the case and the broader northern suburbs outbreak.

The school was closed on Thursday after a student went to the campus when they were supposed to be quarantining after a confirmed case in their household.