June 10, 2021 | By Bronwen Largier
Melbourne’s lockdown conditions will ease significantly at midnight tonight, although many restrictions will remain in place for at least the next week. Whether events can be held also remains unclear.
From midnight, Melbournians will be permitted to leave home for any reason, food and drink venues will be allowed to host up to 50 customers indoors, shops will reopen and outdoor seated entertainment for up to 100 people can take place.
However, the 10km travel radius will be replaced by a 25km travel limit and residents of Greater Melbourne cannot travel to regional Victoria. Visitors will not be permitted at home and capacities for weddings and funerals will also remain heavily restricted at 10 and 50 attendees respectively. Masks will continue to be required in both indoor and outdoor settings, with the state government reversing the decision to cease outdoor mask wearing at this morning’s press conference.
There remains no clarity around whether events are permitted to take place once the lockdown eases.
On the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre website, an update posted yesterday says, “We are currently working with the Victorian Government to understand how these new restrictions will apply to MCEC, including our capacities and upcoming events in the venue.”
The Victorian state government reported four new local cases this morning, from the same household. The Department of Health has flagged that investigations into how the household became infected are underway.
Restrictions for regional Victoria will also ease further at midnight, with up to 75 people permitted indoors at hospitality venues and indoor entertainment venues allowed to host up to 75 people seated or unseated.
In a press conference yesterday, Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino said further easing of restrictions is planned for midnight next Thursday and the intention is to bring Melbourne and regional Victoria back to the same level of COVIDSafe settings.
As Melbourne’s lockdown eases, regional NSW and southeast Queensland are on alert after a woman from Melbourne travelled through both states to the Sunshine Coast and tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, leaving numerous exposure sites in her wake. The Queensland Government has announced this morning that the woman’s husband, who travelled with her from Victoria, has also tested positive for COVID-19.
Australia has now delivered around 5.3 million vaccine doses, out of the 40 million required to fully vaccinate all adults in Australia.