From 23 November, outdoor gatherings will increase to 50 people, Melbourne residents will be allowed to have up to 20 visitors in their home, all retail and hospitality will be open with 20-person limits in restaurants, real estate will open, and wedding and funerals will return to normal. “Because if we did that we wouldn’t be opening up at all, we would simply be beginning a third wave. Mr Andrews said there would be some differences to this stay-at-home order compared to the one imposed on Victorians earlier this year. August 9, 2020 — 4.04pm. “Until we put this out, until we contain this properly, we cannot open up,” Andrews said. All of these steps would be subject to health advice, Andrews said. Should Victoria’s lockdown continue to September 28 as forecast, Melburnians will have done about five months under lockdown. "This is challenging. It's much more than that. Stage-four restrictions in Melbourne, which include a night-time curfew, will be extended for two weeks to 28 September, with Daniel Andrews declaring: “We can’t run out of lockdown.” The curfew, travel limits and some other elements of stage four will then remain in place until 26 October. "If you are starting to see stability in low numbers, we'd have much greater confidence those are real numbers, rather than a false sense that the virus was not there anymore or at such low levels that a suppression strategy would be able to work.". It's a pandemic. Mr Andrews said Victoria would shortly have conducted 1 million tests. He said not taking significant action now would mean thousands more cases, and most likely more deaths. "I think a sense of complacency has crept into us as we let our frustrations get the better of us. “You can’t do anything but follow the best health advice, otherwise … we will just be beginning to lose control again of this virus.”. Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will re-enter lockdown from Wednesday. None of us would be able to plan anything. Melbourne was placed under stage-four lockdown on 2 August while regional Victoria was put under stage three. For people who do live in regional Victoria, not much of today's announcement applies to you. Australia's prime minister cancelled plans to go to a rugby game on Saturday after a senior minister was diagnosed with COVID-19, while the nation's treasurer called a second crisis meeting over the rapidly growing economic threat from the coronavirus. Masks are compulsory across Victoria. "Let's not see it as simply an inconvenience. The government and chief health officer admit they’re now unsure whether Melbourne will be able to take the next step out of lockdown on October 19. The extension will include some minor changes. Non-contact adult sport will be allowed to resume. And unless this is done safely and steadily that simply won’t happen.”. Andrews said the decision to extend lockdown was “not a 50-50 choice”. Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will re-enter lockdown from Wednesday. If China stops taking Australia's coal, will other countries fill the gap? The second lockdown kicked off on July 9, and according to City of Melbourne data, there is a marked increase in the number of people moving about the city this time. Earlier today, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that stage 4 lockdown will stay in place for another two weeks after the initial date of Sunday 13 September, until at least Monday 28 September. I get it. The extended lockdown means thousands of people will be unable to return to work before the federal government reduces the fortnightly rate of the jobkeeper and jobseeker payments, which will taper off from the end of September. "There will be every chance you'll be stopped and asked. I didn't want to be in this position. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Larry Schlesinger ... the stability of land prices and the extension of the HomeBuilder construction start date in Victoria. The state on Sunday announced 671 new cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths. From midnight next Sunday, Andrews said, the curfew would start at 9pm instead of 8pm, and people who live on their own would be able to have one guest in their home, extending the rules for intimate partner visits to one friend or family member. "I want to be clear with you. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. “The roadmap released today is a Victorian government plan.”. “We can’t run out of lockdown,” he said. Melbourne, home to five million people, has been under a strict second lockdown since July. Areas that will be affected by the new lockdown restrictions are (in alphabetical order): Banyule, Bayside, Boroondara, Brimbank, Cardinia, Casey, Darebin, Frankston, Glen Eira, Greater Dandenong, Hobsons Bay, Hume, Kingston, Knox, Manningham, Maribyrnong, Maroondah, Melbourne, Melton, Mitchell Shire, Monash, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Mornington Peninsula, Nillumbik, Port Phillip, Stonnington, Whitehorse, Whittlesea, Wyndham, Yarra Ranges, Yarra. "Of course there are many thousands more close contacts who are being worked with in terms of trying to contain the spread of the virus and our public health team is doing that very important work as best they possibly can," he said. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). And it will kill thousands of people if it gets completely away from us. Key Points. The Premier was clear that now was not the time for people to be travelling to regional areas — and the Defence Force would be on the ground helping to ensure that. "'Cusp of a second wave', 'second wave', what people want to call this is entirely irrelevant.". Melbourne will finally exit lockdown this week after nearly four months as the Australian city records zero new infections or deaths. "These are unsustainably high numbers of new cases," the Premier said. If daily case numbers fell to an average of between 50 and 30 a day by 28 September, Andrews said, public outdoor gatherings would be able to increase from two people to five people from two households. Some of the measures include:. News Melbourne heads into 6-week lockdown as infections spike. If Melbourne moved out of lockdown too quickly, he said, the sacrifice made by 5 million people in staying at home, and in many cases now being unable to go to work, would be for “frittered away” for nothing. Victoria’s premier has apologised for having to extend tough lockdown conditions in Melbourne for six more weeks as Australia’s second largest city works to contain the second wave of Covid-19 cases that has caused 646 deaths to date. He said he was “100% accountable for where we find ourselves but, equally, I’m accountable for getting us to the other side of this”. Mr Andrews said the number of cases in Mitchell Shire was concerning, and it was crucial the virus did not spread further into regional areas. Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Prof Allen Cheng, said the modelling suggested that “if we relax too early we risk a loss of control and … another lockdown”. “The worst outcome for everyone is the need to have repeated lockdowns with the uncertainty, never knowing from week to week what we’re doing. Nearly five million residents of greater Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire have entered a very different world, with a new six-week lockdown coming into effect. On 23 January, biosecurity officials began screening arrivals on flights from Wuhan to Sydney. There are, however, some changes to restrictions taking place from Sunday 13 September: Two people or a household can meet for up to two hours of exercise. Life for millions of Victorians will change drastically again, with new coronavirus orders coming into effect in fewer than two days. You can't leave metropolitan Melbourne to get your daily exercise. Mr Andrews said there was no doubt today's announcement was tough to swallow, but it was necessary. The tournament was scheduled for Jan. 18-31 at Melbourne Park, which is the tournament’s regular slot late in the southern summer holidays. From 26 October, if the daily average has fallen to fewer than five new cases a day, the curfew will lift and there will be no restrictions on the reasons people can leave home. 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