Mask rules return as Victoria’s COVID-free streak ends

MASKS must again be worn indoors following a spike of locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Melbourne.

Just hours before Victorians were set to celebrate the new year, Acting Premier Jacinta Allan imposed new restrictions, with a new limit of 15 visitors to households and reinstated mandatory
masks at all indoor venues as of 5pm on December 31.

“We do apologise to people who have put plans in place, who was looking forward to having events in their home, or in other people’s homes, but this is a necessary step,” she said.

“If you are planning to leave your home at the moment, we ask people to carry their masks with them, we are now asking them to wear a mask if they are indoors in any location which is not their private home.”

According to the new restrictions, you must wear a fitted face mask when you are in public indoor spaces unless you have a lawful reason not to. This includes when visiting places such as:

• Shopping centres, supermarkets, retail outlets and indoor markets
• Hospitals and aged care facilities
• Restaurants and cafes, except when you are eating or drinking
• Churches and places of worship
• Libraries
• Indoor recreational facilities and gyms, and
• Indoor workplaces.

Other than the updated mask and home gathering rules, Victoria’s COVIDSafe Summer restrictions introduced on December 6 remain the same, including density limits in pubs, restaurants and cafes, retail and beauty services, and gyms; and mandatory electronic record keeping.

The discovery of the COVID-19 cases last week broke Victoria’s 61-day streak of no locally acquired cases.

As of Tuesday afternoon there were 38 active cases in Victoria, with the state’s COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar saying genomic sequencing had confirmed many of the cases originated from Sydney’s Croydon and northern beaches clusters.

Melbourne’s Federation Square and several major shopping stores were added to Victoria’s growing list of exposure sites on Monday this week,

The closure of the border with NSW saw more than 60,000 Victorians return to the state and thus be required to have a COVID-19 test.

In response to the extra demand for testing, the state government more than doubled its testing capacity in the past few days.

There have been significant delays at testing sites due to the considerable increase in demand.

There are now more than 200 testing centres in operation, including new testing sites in areas where large numbers of close contacts and exposure sites have been identified.

For the latest updates, head to dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus.

– WITH AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS