World News – AU – Daniel Andrews says Melbourne restrictions will be eased from Wednesday

The 25km travel limit and border between Melbourne and the region will be removed from 11.59pm on Sunday 8 November

Retail stores, cafes, restaurants and bars may reopen, subject to customer number limits, and more than two households may congregate outside

Among other changes from Wednesday beauty and tattoo services may reopen for services if masks are worn

And the top four reasons for leaving home will be removed, allowing Melburnians to leave their home for any reason

« Now is the time to open up The time has come to congratulate every Victorian for staying the course, » Prime Minister said

The 25-kilometer travel limit will be removed and the border between Melbourne and the Victoria region will be removed, again allowing interstate travel

Masks will remain mandatory and people will still be encouraged to work from home if possible

And Victoria today recorded her first day of zero coronavirus infection in over four months

« We took the time to wait to make sure there was no widespread community transmission in the northern suburbs, » said M Andrews

« It was worth the wait to be absolutely confident, to be sure our team had their arms around these positive cases and fundamental control of the outbreak, and that is exactly what these numbers show us « 

Over the weekend, we asked the Victorians living in our northern suburbs to get tested. They did just that

In 24 hours, we were able to process 14,024 additional tests, including 3,196 from these communities This morning we processed 1157

I want to thank everyone who has done the right thing with their community and our state by getting tested I also want to thank the nurses, lab technicians, collectors, couriers – everyone who worked 24 hours a day to process these tests

Thanks to this effort, we were able to get results faster than expected. These results give us confidence – the confidence that even though we identify positive cases in other tests – we are firmly on top of this virus

This is why today I can confirm what we have been waiting for a long time: Melbourne will come out of the lockout and move on to step three Before we get to what almost everyone will be waiting for, ask:

As we move towards reopening the message remains the same: please stay safe and if you have any symptoms you need to get tested

As part of the third leg, and starting at 11.59pm Tuesday, Melbourne will switch from ‘staying home’ to ‘staying safe’, with no further restrictions on why you leave home

The 25 kilometer limit will remain in place however I know this is frustrating but this is to make sure that even as we ease the restrictions We limit the virus’s ability to travel

This is why the border between the Victoria area and Melbourne will also remain in place – just a little longer

Under the third stage, cafes, restaurants and pubs in Melbourne can reopen Outdoors with a limit of 50 maximum, indoors up to 20 Density limits, record keeping and COVIDSafe plans also apply

The remaining stores will also open Beauty and personal care services may resume And for businesses that need to prepare for their reopening, staff will be able to come to the location immediately

Outdoor contact sport for 18 and under will also start again, as will non-contact sport for adults PT, fitness and dance classes can also be held outdoors with up to 10 people, and the number of people in the outdoor pools may increase to 50, subject to density limits

Libraries and community venues may open for outdoor events Outdoor entertainment venues may also begin to welcome visitors

And religious communities will be able to meet for outdoor religious ceremonies with up to 20 people, in addition to those required for the service Indoor services can be organized with up to 10

Workplaces will no longer need to be on the authorized work list to open and the ability to work will become « if you can work from home you have to work from home »

As long as the border is in place, work permits will still be required for workers from Melbourne traveling to the Victoria area and vice versa

I know what a lot of people miss is having people to visit but, as we have seen, this virus is most dangerous when we are inside, relaxed and comfortable

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That’s why we’re going to take the next 24 hours to figure out how we might be able to make this work work – safely – and I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow

From November 8, and if we can continue to reduce the number of cases, the 25km limit will be removed and Melbourne can meet regional Victoria at the same level

This means the same relaxed restrictions that apply to the Victoria area will also apply to Melbourne

The capacity of pubs and restaurants will increase, with up to 40 indoors and 70 outdoors

Religious gatherings will grow with up to 20 people and a religious leader inside and 50 outside

Gyms and indoor fitness may reopen with some strict safety precautions in place

I know personally, deeply, how much this will mean for the thousands of Victorians who have not been able to see their loved ones for too long

I understand there will be questions: « What about X? » or « when can I do Y? » And I promise you we’ll also have an update on November 8 on the timelines and thresholds for taking the final step

We want to reach COVID Normal by Christmas and at the moment we are on track to do so

This is why we must continue – all of us Understand that while the restrictions may be eased, our personal responsibility in all of this does not

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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

Daniel Andrews, Victoria, Coronavirus, Melbourne