	{"id":50162,"date":"2021-03-23T10:28:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T23:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=50162"},"modified":"2021-03-23T10:58:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T23:58:17","slug":"covid-home-visitors-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/covid-home-visitors-masks\/","title":{"rendered":"Home visitor cap to rise to 100, masks not mandatory at shops"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Victorians can soon have 100 visitors at home and won&#8217;t have to wear masks at shops, in the most significant easing of restrictions since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Acting Premier James Merlino announced from 6pm on Friday, people will be able to have 100 visitors at home, while 200 people will be able to gather in public.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know that the risk is far from over. But thanks to the incredible work of all Victorians, we&#8217;re continuing to open up and return to the city and the state we love, in terms of its life and vibrancy,&#8221; he told reporters this morning.<\/p>\n<p>Masks will no longer be required in retail settings, although Victorians will still need to wear them on public transport, in taxis and rideshare vehicles and in hospitals and aged care facilities<\/p>\n<p>Density limits will also be eased at casinos, nightclubs and karaoke venues from one person per four square metres to one person per two square metres, bringing them into line with cafes, pubs and restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a075 per cent cap on workers in private and public offices will also be removed, although a density limit of one person per two square metres will apply.<\/p>\n<p>Crowd numbers have also been increased to 75 per cent of stadium capacity.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as the state&#8217;s active cases dropped to zero on Tuesday, for the first time since December 10 last year.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria recorded no new cases for the 25th day in a row today (Tuesday, March 23) following 13,549 tests.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria has not accepted international passenger flights into the state since February 13, when the state entered a five-day lockdown.<\/p>\n<p>Freight flights with crew have still been able to land since that date.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Merlino said he would make an announcement regarding the state&#8217;s hotel quarantine program &#8220;later in the week&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates on Victoria&#8217;s COVID-19 restrictions, head to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhhs.vic.gov.au\/coronavirus\">dhhs.vic.gov.au\/coronavirus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victorians can soon have 100 visitors at home and won&#8217;t have to wear masks at shops, in the most significant easing of restrictions since the start of the pandemic. Acting Premier James Merlino announced from 6pm on Friday, people will be able to have 100 visitors at home, while 200 people will be able to [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/covid-home-visitors-masks\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":50163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-50162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Home visitor cap to rise to 100, masks not mandatory at shops - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/covid-home-visitors-masks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Home visitor cap to rise to 100, masks not mandatory at shops - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Victorians can soon have 100 visitors at home and won&#8217;t have to wear masks at shops, in the most significant easing of restrictions since the start of the pandemic. Acting Premier James Merlino announced from 6pm on Friday, people will be able to have 100 visitors at home, while 200 people will be able to [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/covid-home-visitors-masks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-22T23:28:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-22T23:58:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/03\/Untitled-design-23.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AAP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AAP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AAP\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c79183d5a3db7e67489f923ae9bd0ac4\"},\"headline\":\"Home visitor cap to rise to 100, masks not mandatory at shops\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-22T23:28:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-22T23:58:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":325,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-23.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home visitor cap to rise to 100, masks not mandatory at shops - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-23.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-22T23:28:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-22T23:58:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/covid-home-visitors-masks\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-23.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-23.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Unlike previous COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria, masks will not be needed in any retail settings as of Friday this week. 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