Outdoor pools and playgrounds to reopen under roadmap

THE City of Greater Geelong council is preparing to reopen playgrounds and outdoor pools across the municipality from next week, in line with the easing of some coronavirus restrictions in regional Victoria.
Regional Victoria will move to step two of the state government’s roadmap from Monday, September 14.
Following changes to outdoor activity, playgrounds can reopen, with visitors urged to maintain physical distancing and keep at least 1.5 metres apart from others.
Outdoor pools will also be able to operate, with limits on the use of the facilities.
The city is awaiting further information on the state government’s directions, including density requirements, before finalising details of Kardinia Aquatic Centre’s reopening.
Facilities such as swim, sport and leisure centres, indoor sport and recreation stadiums and cultural venues must stay closed under step two.
The city says it has started preparations for the potential move to step three on the roadmap, but does not expect this to happen until at least September 28.
“We know businesses across our region are hurting and this has not been the news they were hoping for, as they face more weeks of closure and loss of income,” Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher said.
“Council recognises the need for even further targeted assistance and is working through the details of further community support measures.
“Achieving the ‘third step’ will be vital in creating more opportunities for operators in the tourism, retail and hospitality sectors.
“We are looking at different and innovative outdoor and commercial options to support these businesses to get back on their feet quickly when we reach the third step threshold.
“I urge everyone to keep doing the right thing and wear a mask, maintain social distancing, practise good hygiene, get tested and stay home if you
have symptoms.
“Noting that Geelong has been highlighted as being under close watch, it’s imperative we keep driving down the case numbers in order to move as quickly as we can to the next step of the regional roadmap, which is when some of our tourism and hospitality businesses can begin to operate.”
Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Premier Daniel Andrews suggested regional Victoria could move through the roadmap’s steps more quickly based on the declining number of cases, but he would be guided by the data.
“There’s been a bit of commentary about ‘Why can’t communities that have no cases jump well and truly ahead and jump right now?’,” he said.
“The key point is that’s cases we know of. The sewerage testing result of the wastewater in Apollo Bay shows this can be in a local community and no-one knows it. It often presents mildly and not everybody who has symptoms comes forward and gets tested.
“As I said yesterday (Monday), if this was a situation where we were asking all of regional Victoria to wait six or eight weeks before they could take those safe, steady steps towards normal, we probably would have said we need to divide regional Victoria up into different zones based on risk, based on data.
“I think they’ll be able to take some significant steps soon because the trend is with us, the trend is good. And that’s all a credit to the work of every single person across Victoria.”
To see all the steps in the regional Victoria roadmap, head to vic.gov.au/restrictions-roadmap-regional-victoria.