Visitors allowed in Melbourne homes from 11.59pm on Tuesday, Premier says
Melburnians will be allowed to visit each other's homes from 11.59pm on Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced.
With tight restrictions, people will now be allowed to socialise in homes with their friends and loved ones.
There will be a maximum of two adult visitors per house, per day, plus their dependent children, Mr Andrews said. Households will be restricted to one visiting event per day, meaning those who receive visitors cannot also visit someone else that day.
For the second day in a row, Victoria has recorded a "doughnut" day of no new cases of coronavirus or deaths. The last time Victoria reported consecutive days of zero cases was March 5 and 6.
The change to household visitors comes a day after the Premier announced businesses could reopen from 11.59pm Tuesday, under the easing of stage four restrictions.
Mr Andrews urged Victorians to continue to get tested for even the mildest of symptoms.
"What we, all of us as Victorians, have built is a precious thing, but it is fragile," he said.
"We will be able to find a COVID-normal but we will all have to play our part in that and arguably there's nothing more important than going and getting tested."
The Premier said more than 3,081,000 test results had been delivered since the start of the pandemic. More that 15,000 of them yesterday.
"Our testing performance over the last week and certainly the last fortnight, has been nothing short of stunning," he said.
He warned Victorians would likely be wearing masks for the rest of the year, at least.
There are 87 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria. Five Victorians are in hospital, one of them in intensive care.
"Even though we got zero cases, yesterday, today, if we're to stay on top of that then people need to ... get tested," Mr Andrews said.
"And get tested that day. Don't wait until tomorrow or two or three days."
Euan Wallace, the deputy secretary of case, contact and outbreak management at the Department of Health and Human Services, said on Tuesday that the recent outbreak in Melbourne's north reinforced the danger of family transmission.
"The lessons from the recent outbreak in the northern suburbs – but not just that outbreak several other outbreaks over the last month or so – has been that intra-household and entire household transmission has been one of the key methods of this virus spreading," he told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.
"So, we need to just hold off on the massive family gatherings we all want to have just a bit longer.
When Melburnians are allowed to meet indoors again, they will need to be extremely careful, he said.
"We have examples of very human things, you know, passing newborn babies around ... with infants having the virus, and then spread the virus across multiple households.
"These are normal, normal human things that we want to do want to hug each other."
More to come
Kate Lahey is a producer for The Age.
Zach is a reporter at The Age. Got a story? Email me at zach.hope@theage.com.au