VISITORS to homes will be allowed in regional Victoria from Friday, as restrictions ease across the state.
Home visits are capped at two adults per day, plus their dependents, while 20 people can gather in public.
Community sport is back for all ages, with training and competition allowed from 11.59pm Thursday. Gyms and indoor sports can reopen, with limits on the number of people permitted at a time.
Restaurants and cafes can have up to 150 people per venue for seated service, with a cap of 75 indoors. Capacity limits will increase for entertainment venues and community facilities.
Attendance caps on ceremonies will rise, with 75 people allowed at funerals and 20 at weddings. Religious services will be capped at 150 people, with no more than 75 indoors.
A full table of restrictions is available here.
QR code check-ins will become more ubiquitous, with Acting Premier James Merlino flagging the state would move towards mandatory check-ins for workplaces as well as for retail and hospitality customers.
“We will be moving to make QR check-ins compulsory for all workplaces, with very limited exemptions,” he said.
“Previously it has only been mandatory for customer-facing services, but through this outbreak we have seen a number of cases occur in office settings, so we want to take the next step on this.”
Offices remain capped at 50 per cent, but regional Victorians can still get away for the long weekend, with no restriction on travel within the state. However, Melburnians may not travel more than 25km from home except for permitted purposes.
Mr Merlino foreshadowed he would have “more to say” about further easing next week, including about intrastate travel.
“We expect next Thursday night the regional-metro divisions will come down and we’ll be able to travel more freely around the state again,” he said.
Victoria recorded one new case overnight, taking the state’s total number of active cases to 83. 28,485 tests were received over the past 24 hours, but Mr Merlino encouraged more people to get swabbed.
“We can’t let complacency creep in, and I am asking everyone to keep doing the right thing,” he said.
“Follow the rules, check-in, get tested if you are feeling unwell. We are into the depths of winter now. People will get the sniffles. Any symptoms, any symptoms, please go and get tested. That is the most important thing you can do, and if you are eligible, please get vaccinated.”
