PREMIER Daniel Andrews says “a much more generous set of rules” in regional Victoria remains a target.
Plans to increase the number of patrons in restaurants and other indoor venues beyond the 20-person limit were put on hold in late June as coronavirus cases in Melbourne began an uptick.
Outside Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, which are in lockdown, there were 41 active cases as of Friday.
Mildura last recorded a confirmed case more than three months ago.
Mr Andrews said on a call with regional journalists that an easing in the bush wouldn’t happen “next week”, but was still the intention.
He said if there was any risk it might lead to losing control of virus transmission in regional Victoria, the government would err on the side of caution.
“It’s still my aim, subject to the sorts of numbers that we see presenting in regional areas, to move to what might be termed a more generous set of restrictions in regional Victoria,” he said.
“We’ve still got very large parts of regional Victoria that have had no cases or very low cases, low numbers of community transmission cases as well.
“So we still are committed to trying at the appropriate time and I can’t give you a date — I can indicate to you that it won’t be next week.
“But once we get further into multiple 14-day cycles in the Melbourne settings, if we’re continuing to see low numbers and we’ve got a high degree of confidence that we’re we’re getting to those cases quickly, testing numbers are up, and we’re containing it, then there is a strong case to say OK, let’s try and do a different set of rules for regional Victoria, further than the differences that are there now.”
The government on Friday announced Mildura’s drive-through testing site would be continued as part of an expanded test program in the regions.
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper reiterated her call for testing criteria to be expanded to accommodate those with Melbourne contact, regardless of symptoms.
Mr Andrews gave an indication asymptomatic testing could eventually be increased.
“We did about 24,500 tests yesterday, we’re at 1.25 million tests — it is finite, so you’ve got to be targeted at those people who are most likely to give you a positive, which are those that have got symptoms,” he said.
“But that’s something the Chief Health Officer looks at all the time.
“I think you’ll find there will be more asymptomatic testing in regional Victoria in the weeks and months to come, as we do everything we possibly can to try and keep the numbers really low and have a much better set of rules, a much more generous set of rules, from an economic point of view but also always doing what is safe across regional cities and towns.”
Wear masks if distancing fails
REGIONAL Victorians should now wear masks if they are in a space where social distancing isn’t possible, Premier Daniel Andrews said on Friday.
The mask could be homemade and was a precautionary measure for circumstances where 1.5 metres of separation was not possible, such as a taxi ride.
Mr Andrews said mask-wearing wasn’t compulsory, but would help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“If you’ve got symptoms, you shouldn’t be out of the house,” he said.
“The only thing you should be doing is going and getting tested and then isolating until you get the test results back.
“If, however, you are out and you are well … wearing a mask, the benefit there is it just reduces the likelihood of you spreading it if you happen to have it but not have symptoms.”
