By Mikayla van Loon
With the news of four community transmissions of Covid-19 in Melbourne, the State government has announced that as of 6pm Tuesday 25 May some restrictions will come back into place for the Greater Melbourne area.
Face masks will need to be worn indoors unless an exemption applies and the mask requirement applies to all children over the age of 12.
Other restrictions include a reduction in private gathering numbers to just five visitors a day and public gatherings will be restricted to 30 people.
Schools and workplaces will remain open with the current restrictions in place but there are no changes to the density requirements.
Victorians who live in Greater Melbourne can still travel to regional Victoria but the restrictions of mask wearing and visitors to the home remain.
Acting premier James Merlino is urging eligible Victorians to get the vaccination but said the most important part is to follow CovidSafe practices.
“These additional measures are about keeping Victorians safe while our coronavirus detectives work to track down any additional cases and stamp out the spread of this deadly virus,” Mr Merlino said.
Health minister Martin Foley asked that any Victorian who may have visited an exposure site get tested and isolate until they get a negative test result.
“These cases are an important reminder that until the majority of Australians have been vaccinated, and as we move into winter, we cannot let any complacency creep in, and we need to keep up our CovidSafe behaviours,” he said.
These restrictions are a move to ensure the safety of all Victorians and to allow contact tracing to occur.
To keep vulnerable members of the community safe, hospital and aged care visitor restrictions will also now apply state-wide.
The Public Health Advisory Panel will provide advice as soon as possible to upcoming Tier 1 and Tier 2 events if any modifications will be required for the event to proceed.
For more information about current COVIDSafe settings, Victoria’s travel permit system and the vaccine program, please visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
