VICTORIA’S five-day lockdown has reached its planned end point, Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Wednesday morning.
But while the five-day “circuit-breaker” was set to end on schedule at 11.59pm on Wednesday night, coronavirus settings in the state will not yet return to where they were a week ago, with rules around mask wearing and home visits set to stay.
Under the new restrictions, the four reasons to leave home and 5km limit will no longer apply, and schools and retail and hospitality businesses can reopen on Thursday morning.
However, masks will remain mandatory in all public settings when social distancing is not possible.
Visitors to homes are limited to five people, down from the 20 allowed before the lockdown, and visitors to hospitals and aged care restricted to one household per day, while up to 20 people, from any number of households, can gather in public.
Limits on weddings and funerals will fall away, with density limits based on the size of the venue.
Sport and recreation activities can also resume, with density quotas in place, as can entertainment and public events.
Making the announcement on Wednesday morning, Mr Andrews stressed that “this is not over”, adding that he would not rule out further lockdowns.
“I can provide no guarantees because I’m not prepared to pretend to the Victorian community that this is over,” he said.
“We will not hesitate to make the tough decisions.”
“I of course acknowledge the very difficult circumstances that many have raised but there is simply no alternative but to follow the health advice provided.”
The changes came after Victoria recorded zero new COVID-19 cases overnight, off nearly 40,000 tests.
There were 25 active cases in the state on Wednesday.
