VICTORIA will “come back together” this week as the border between Melbourne and the regions falls away, Acting Premier James Merlino announced on Wednesday.
From 11.59pm Thursday, the metropolitan border will be removed, as will a 25km travel limit on Melburnians.
In regional Victoria, gatherings in the home will be allowed with up to five visitors per day, plus dependents, and up to 50 people can gather in public. Melburnians can host two people at home or meet in public in groups of up to 20.
Masks will no longer be mandatory outdoors, but are still recommended where 1.5m physical distancing cannot be maintained. They must still be worn indoors and on public transport.
Community sport and competition will return statewide with up to 1000 spectators for outdoor games in regional areas and 300 indoors. There will no longer be a travel limit for sport within the state.
People should still work from home if possible, but offices in regional areas can have up to 75 per cent or 30 employees on site, whichever is greater.
Weddings in regional Victoria can have 50 guests, while up to 100 people can attend a funeral.
Mr Merlino also emphasised the importance of getting tested when symptomatic.
“It’s no exaggeration to say the single most important thing every single Victorian can do is to get tested as soon as they have even the mildest of symptoms,” he said.
“As we head deeper into winter, this becomes more important than ever. We can’t assume that a scratchy throat is the sign of a winter cold.”
Tests will be mandatory for Melburnians travelling to alpine resorts, while regional Victorians can now travel to South Australia if they get tested on the first day of their visit and isolate until they receive a negative result. People from Greater Melbourne are still barred from entering SA.
Victoria reported five new local cases today.
