Victoria's fifth lockdown ends with schools, shops, cafes, sport and even gyms to re-open - but home visits are STILL banned and masks mandatory

  • Victorians are set to be released from lockdown at 11.59pm on Tuesday
  • Restrictions will still remain in place to keep the number of positive cases down
  • The 5km travel rule will be scraped with shops, bars and gyms set to reopen
  • The premier also took a swipe at NSW for refusing to implement a 'ring of steel'

Victoria's fifth lockdown will end after two weeks, but residents are still banned from going to their friends' houses and masks will be mandatory everywhere.

The state recorded another 10 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday morning and all cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period.

Premier Daniel Andrews said at a press conference that lockdown will end at 11.59pm tonight allowing Victorians to leave their homes for any reason, but many rules will remain in place.

'Schools will open for all year levels from tomorrow morning, but no visitors are allowed to your home for the next two weeks,' Mr Andrews said. 

Pubs, restaurants, cafes, and bars will open with a maximum of 100 people inside and 300 outside, and a quota of one person per 4sqm.  

Live music venues, dance classes, and physical recreation facilities, including gyms, will also open with the same square metre rule. 

The number of people allowed at funerals and weddings will be capped at 50.

Pictured: A woman in Melbourne. Victorians are set to emerge from lockdown at 11.59 on Tuesday night

Pictured: A woman in Melbourne. Victorians are set to emerge from lockdown at 11.59 on Tuesday night

Stay-at-home orders, brought in on July 16, are on track to end at 11.59pm on Tuesday as scheduled but Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) has warned that a range of restrictions will need to remain in place

VICTORIA'S NEW RESTRICTIONS AFTER LOCKDOWN ENDS ON TUESDAY AT 11.59PM

- No visitors to homes

- The 5km limit will lift completely 

- Hospitality, retail and gyms can reopen, but there are limits of one person per 4 square metres

- School students and teachers will return to classrooms on Wednesday

- Gyms will reopen, community sport and dance classes will resume

- Ski fields will be open but holidaymakers will need a negative test to enter

- Families can go on holidays with members of their household only 

- Masks remain mandatory indoors and outdoors

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Mr Andrews said: 'There will be people saying, 'Why can I go to the pub but not mum and dad's place for dinner?' Well, there's no QR codes at mum and dad's place, no industrial cleaning, not the measures we have as a hospo venue.'

He also said crowds at football games, theatres and at large events will be banned for the next two weeks.   

Victoria will return to the rule that 'if you can work from home, you should work from home' but office workers will be able to return up to 25 per cent or up to 10 people - whichever is greater.

Families are allowed to go on holidays again, but only with other members of their household. 

People will be free to visit ski fields, but entry to Victoria's alpine resorts will require a Covid test and receipt of a negative result within 72 hours before visiting. 

Children under 12 years of age are not required to be tested.  

With Sydney's outbreak still ongoing, changes will also be made to tighten the cross-border bubble with NSW.

The City of Wagga Wagga, Hay Shire Council, Lockhart Shire Council and Murrumbidgee Council will no longer be included in the cross-border bubble. 

'If you want to travel to Victoria from those four local government areas, you would need a permit,' Mr Andrews said:

'We're only granting permits for those who are approved workers, and even only then when it is absolutely necessary.

'We have to do everything we can to keep this virus out of our state and it's obviously regrettable that we've had to do that all the way down at the Murray but we'll do what we can.'

He also fired shots at Gladys Berejiklian for refusing to lock people in Sydney during an outbreak of more than 2,000 cases since June - and a further 172 cases on Tuesday, which is a record for NSW for the Delta strain.

'A ring of steel will work. It will, and that's why I called for it. The NSW Government has a different view,' he said, referring to rules that separate people in hotspots from unaffected areas.

'I would respectfully say to the NSW Government you're not just making decisions for NSW. You're making decisions for the whole country.'

Victoria recorded 10 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday. All cases were in isolation. Melbourne pictured

Victoria recorded 10 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday. All cases were in isolation. Melbourne pictured

When asked if he spoke with Ms Berejiklian about closing the border, a cranky Mr Andrews said he didn't have time.

'I've been too busy to pick up the phone today. I've been, you know, really? We're not getting into who rang who and why,' he said.

'Frankly, I've been too busy to pick up the phone to talk to Gladys Berejiklian about these matters and I'm sure that she's been pretty busy also. 

'And I'm not here to apologise for not having rung her. It's, frankly, not top of my list.' 

With no cases spending any time in the community for three days, no new exposure sites were listed since Saturday.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said two of the three new cases at an AFL game at AAMI Park tested negative at the beginning of their isolation period, but tested positive on day 13. 

'Just because you return a negative result early in your isolation period does not mean you may not contract coronavirus during your incubation period,' he said.

'That's why we isolate you for 14 days.' 

A final decision on whether Victorians will be released from lockdown was made on Monday evening. Pictured: Anti-lockdown protesters are seen in Melbourne's CBD

A final decision on whether Victorians will be released from lockdown was made on Monday evening. Pictured: Anti-lockdown protesters are seen in Melbourne's CBD

Mr Andrews said all new cases on Tuesday being in isolation meant it was a 'good day' for the state, but maintained he was not being 'boastful' or 'triumphant'. 

'We are grateful for the work that so many have done and indeed that all Victorians have done but the significance of this today to be able to end this lockdown at midnight,' he said.

'It sends a clear message that we have seen off two Delta outbreaks. I don't think there's a jurisdiction in the world that has been able to achieve that and every Victorian should be proud of that.' 

He urged people to wear masks, and said some restrictions will remain in place until the majority of Victorians are vaccinated - 'and that is some months off'

'We can recover, and we can push forward, even while the virus is here, and we intend to do that,' he said.

About 15,600 Victorians were vaccinated on Monday and 24,340 Covid tests were received. 

Business owners with shops on Chapel Street in Melbourne - a busy shopping area - have expressed outrage over the 'super slow, mapped, long, painful pathway' to life before the virus.

Chrissie Maus, Chapel Street Precinct General Manager, said she is questioning the state's contact tracing efforts.  

'Many small business owners will limp out of this fifth lockdown with reserves of money and energy on empty,' she said.

'The truth is, Victoria won’t really be out of lockdown tomorrow. We just move into a slightly bigger cage as restrictions ease marginally.'

'Many businesses will remain closed tomorrow, unable to open within the new rules in place. I predict half the cafes on Chapel Street won’t open for another few weeks because of tough density quotas that simply make it inequitable.' 

Pictured: People getting tested at a drive through Covid testing site in Albert Park in Melbourne

Pictured: People getting tested at a drive through Covid testing site in Albert Park in Melbourne

There are 190 infections linked to the outbreak, which was started by a Sydney removalist crew who passed the virus on to residents of Maribyrnong's Ariele Apartments and a separate family who returned from NSW. 

It was also revealed on Tuesday morning that police will not take any action against the removalists, other than fining one $200 for not wearing a mask.

Police said detectives concluded their investigation into whether public health orders were breached and the workers were found to have not broken any rules.

They all had the appropriate permits to enter the state despite the Harbour City's spiralling number of Covid cases which has now surpassed 1,500 cases.

As a result, numerous residents were infected with the virus at Ariele Apartments in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, sending the entire building and its 200 residents into quarantine for 14 days.

'Victoria Police has undertaken an assessment of the material provided and determined there is no evidence of other offending,' police said.

'As such, Victoria Police will not be taking any action and this matter is closed from a police perspective.' 

DANIEL ANDREWS DEMANDS SYDNEY 'RING OF STEEL' 

The Victorian premier took a swipe at NSW leader Gladys Berejiklian at a press conference on Tuesday morning for refusing to implement a 'ring of steel' around hotspots during Sydney's latest outbreak.

During Victoria's Covid crisis last year, Mr Andrews barred people entering or leaving Melbourne in an attempt to quell the number of cases. 

'A ring of steel will work. It will, and that's why I called for it. The NSW Government have a different view,' he told reporters.

'I would respectfully say to the NSW Government you're not just making decisions for NSW. You're making decisions for the whole country.'

Mr Andrews also said he put the idea of a ring of steel forward at a National Cabinet meeting, but it was not a popular idea with 'the person who actually matters, which is the premier of NSW'.

'You know, there's a lot of talk at the moment about restrictions should be city wide across Sydney. There's a lot of talk about a ring of steel. All I'm doing is telling others what worked here.' 

He also explained that he could not control 'what happens there' and wished people in NSW well. 

'We're not here today boasting. We're not today lecturing. We're not here today doing any of that. In fact, what we will be able to do now, once we get our close contacts cleared... then we may well be able to provide some support to Sydney around contact tracing and some of that work.'

He pledged to keep Sydneysiders out of the state until the number of positive cases drops. 

When asked if he had spoken with Ms Berejiklian about closing the shared border, a cranky Mr Andrews said he didn't have time. 

'I've been too busy to pick up the phone today. I've been, you know, really? We're not getting into who rang who and why,' he said.

'Frankly, I've been too busy to pick up the phone to talk to Gladys Berejiklian about these matters and I'm sure that she's been pretty busy also. 

'And I'm not here to apologise for not having rung her. It's, frankly, not top of my list.' 

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Victoria's fifth Covid-19 lockdown ends but home visits are banned and masks are mandatory

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