Hairdressers across Melbourne will be able to reopen from tomorrow and outdoor photographers will be able to resume work, under changes to coronavirus restrictions announced by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the 5km travel radius for Melbourne residents has been extended to 25km, and the two-hour time limit for exercise and socialising outdoors will be lifted from midnight tonight.
In other changes for businesses, outdoor real estate auctions will now be able to take place with up to 10 people and required staff, while business owners and employees who work outside will be able to get back to work, including tradespeople completing outdoor maintenance and repair work and mobile pet groomers.
Some outdoor sport and recreation facilities will also be able to resume.
The full breakdown of the industries affected by the changes is available here.
In a statement, the Premier acknowledged that “these changes can’t be absolutely everything everyone wants”, but said “they are the steps we can safely take that will make life a little easier”.
“We have come too far — sacrificed too much — to give up now. We are so close,” he added.
“These are the safe, steady steps that will see us out of this — and see us through to the other side.”
Hospitality and retail businesses have been given the date of November 1 for when they will be able to reopen under the third step of the state’s reopening roadmap, although Andrews has left the door open for that reopening to take place sooner if Melbourne experiences another week of low COVID-19 case numbers over the next seven days.
Under this third step, Melbournians will no longer have restrictions for leaving their home, with the message moving from “stay home” to “stay safe”.
All retail will reopen under this step, as will restaurants, cafes and pubs, subject to customer limits and density requirements. Personal and beauty services will also be able to reopen and treat clients as long as face masks can still be worn.
If Melbourne moves to this stage at 11.59pm on November 1, businesses will be able to have employees on-site from October 28 for a “dark reopening” to prepare their premises for customers again.
In regional Victoria, hospitality businesses will be able to welcome more patrons to their venues from midnight tonight.
The customer limit for indoor spaces will increase to 40 for these venues, spread across multiple indoor spaces, with up to 70 people to be allowed in outdoor spaces.
Hospitality venues will still be required to ensure that Melbourne residents do not dine-in at their business.
Regional libraries and toy libraries will also be able to open, with a limit of 20 people indoors, while restrictions on visits to people’s homes will also be eased.
A list of the changes for regional Victoria is available here.
NOW READ: NSW eases restrictions for hospitality venues and music performances
News Editor
Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
