SUNRAYSIA is in lockdown again after the Victorian Government announced late on Thursday that the entire state would shut down for at least five days in response to a rising number of COVID-19 public exposure sites.
The lockdown left a host of Sunraysia businesses and event organisers scrambling to reassess or reschedule planned activities both this weekend and into next week and has left future significant community gatherings under a cloud.
Despite no cases in the north-west of Victoria for more than a year, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was necessary to shut the state down.
In contrast, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has not locked down regions, including in the west of the state, due to a far greater outbreak in and around Sydney.
“I know and understand how frustrating it is for communities and townships that do not have cases and don’t have exposure sites to be locked down,” Mr Andrews said.
“I acknowledge if you’re in the far east of the state or Alpine region or north-west of the state it is very challenging to be locked down because of things happening in Melbourne.
“The challenge here is they might be happening in other places. We don’t know yet and have to have an abundance of caution given how relevant, given how infectious, given how fast this Delta variant moves.”
Weekend sporting events, including Sunraysia Football and Netball League matches, will not proceed.
Halting a round for the third time this season leaves the league with a logjam at season’s end to catch up on missed games.
The lockdown has been further complicated by the current state of play in NSW, with regional restrictions on events including sport crowds limited to 50 per cent capacity, with masks compulsory.
Mr Andrews confirmed the Victorian lockdown began at midnight Thursday, with people only able to leave home for five reasons — to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise, work or study if they are unable to from home, and to get vaccinated.
Masks will be compulsory indoors and outdoors.
All non-essential retail outlets will close but stores such as supermarkets, bottle shops and pharmacies will remain open.
Cafes and restaurants will be able to offer only takeaway food.
Childcare centres and kindergartens will stay open but schools will close, except for a small cohort of students.
The lockdown is set to end at 11.59pm on Tuesday, though regional Victoria will be able to reopen earlier if it is safe to do so.
Mr Andrews said the state had only one chance to go “hard and fast” to defeat the highly infectious Delta variant.
“I am not prepared to avoid a five-day lockdown now only to find ourselves in a five-week or a five-month lockdown,” he said.
Member for Northern Victoria Tim Quilty said businesses and communities in regional Victoria would be “tearing their hair out over this latest disruption”.
“I’m just tired of it,” Mr Quilty said. “We’re all tired of it.”
“When it comes to regional Victoria, I think we should wait and see if individual communities get any cases, and then deal with them locally if they arise, rather than get into a panic, lock down every single town, and cause yet more widespread damage.”
