Midnight Melburnians celebrate freedom

As the clock struck midnight on Tuesday night, Melburnians were finally released from 111 days of stay-at-home lockdown, with some retailers opening at 11:59pm.

Enjoying a walk in the park … Zoe Harbison and Bronte Tarn-Weir stroll through Alma Park in Melbourne’s inner-city St Kilda. Picture: Aaron Francis

As the clock struck midnight on Tuesday night, Melburnians were finally released from 111 days of stay-at-home lockdown, with some bars, restaurants and major retailers opening at 11:59pm to make the most of Victorians’ keenness to embrace the novelty, and household visits finally ­allowed, subject to strict limits.

Major retailers such as Myer, Kmart and Spotlight threw open their doors in the middle of the night, as did numerous inner-city bars and restaurants, after Vic­toria marked two consecutive days with no new cases of coronavirus for the first time since March 6, when the state had recorded a total of just 10 cases since the pandemic began.

However, some small businesses in sectors such as hospitality and fitness were holding off on celebrations, saying it was still unviable to open until restrictions eased further.

Toorak French restaurant Bistro Thierry, in Melbourne’s inner southeast, told customers it would have to halt bookings, as a 10 person per space and 20-person maximum until at least November 8 meant they could accommodate only 10 patrons at a time. “This does not make it viable for us to open. Fingers crossed we may receive more positive news in the next few days,” it said.

Fitness industry body Vic Active said 80 per cent of gyms would be operating at an unsustainable loss even after November 8, when they will be permitted to have up to 10 patrons per space and 20 per venue, with a maximum of one person per 8sq m.

Under rules Premier Daniel Andrews says will remain in place “for quite some time”, Victorians will from Wednesday be able to visit each other’s homes once a day in family groups of up to two adults and dependent children.

Warning that homes were arguably “the most dangerous place for the spread of this virus”, Mr Andrews refused to set a date for a relaxation of the new rule, indicating it was likely to be in place beyond November 8, when the 25km travel restriction and ban on travel between regional Victoria and Melbourne are set to lapse.

“I know that jars with people, may not sound right, but when you think about it, (homes are) where people let their guard down, where people are not being supervised, not like a cafe, not like going to the pub where it’s a ­licensed environment, a regulated environment, people are keeping their distance, there’s cleaning to that industrial standard, there’s all of that formality mak(ing) that a safer place in some ways than what normally people would regard as the most safe place, their own personal space, their own home,” he said.

Any member of a household visit­ing any other household counts as the one permitted visit a day for both the hosting household and those who live with the guests, meaning if a child from a family visits another family, no other members of either family is able to visit other homes that day.

However, up to 10 people from up to 10 households can meet outdoors.

Mr Andrews said while there was no way of policing it, people should wear masks where possible while visiting each other’s homes, indicating masks would remain compulsory outside homes for weeks to come. “We’ll be wearing masks I think at least until the end of the year, and we could be wearing masks into next year,” he said.

As of Tuesday, Victoria had 87 active cases of coronavirus — the lowest active caseload since June 18 — and a decrease of four cases since Monday, with no deaths recorded in the previous eight days, leaving the state’s death toll at 817.

There were 18,417 coronavirus tests processed from Melbourne’s northern suburbs in the week to Tuesday, with no positive results in the previous 48 hours, and the cluster linked to nine households and East Preston Islamic College was steady at 39 cases, 22 of which remained active.

Melbourne’s 14-day daily average reached 2.8 cases on Tuesday, down from 3.6 on Monday and 6.4 the previous Tuesday, while regional Victoria’s was steady at 0.2, with two active cases left in Shepparton, in the north of the state.