
Victoria wakes to fewer COVID-19 rules.
Victorians have woken to more freedom this morning after COVID-19 restrictions were eased but many are unhappy the hospitality and retail industries have been left out.
From Monday, Melburnians will be allowed to travel 25km from home and there will be no limit on time spent outdoors.
Outdoor gatherings will also increase from five people to 10 from two households, while facilities such as skate parks, golf courses and tennis courts will reopen.
Melburnians will also be able to get a haircut, see an allied health professional, renovate their home, wash their car and bid at an auction, though a number of strict safety protocols will be in place.
"I have announced today what is safe but will not undermine the sacrifice, the hard work, the pain, the amazing efforts that Victorians have put in," Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday.
In regional Victoria, up to two people plus dependents will be allowed to visit homes once a day, while hospitality venues can increase their capacity to 70 people outside and 40 people inside.
The "ring of steel" that separates metropolitan Melbourne from regional Victoria will remain in place.
Melbourne will take another step on November 2, with hospitality venues be able to seat 50 people outside and 20 people inside, while retail and beauty and personal care services can resume.
Victoria recorded two new coronavirus cases on Sunday - its fifth consecutive day in the single digits - and no deaths.
New Zealand travellers arrive in WA and Victoria.
Twenty-three people who recently travelled from New Zealand to Australia have arrived in Perth.
Health officials were advised by police of the arrivals on Saturday and say they have been taken into hotel quarantine for 14 days.
All travelled through Sydney and were identified as soon as they arrived at Perth Airport.
It was revealed on Friday that 55 people also took connecting flights to Melbourne.
The premiers of Western Australia and Victoria are fuming after almost 80 New Zealand travellers entered states not included in the travel bubble. #9Today pic.twitter.com/OdkQUKbG0B
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow)
Under the trans-Tasman travel bubble, anyone arriving from New Zealand is currently restricted to NSW and the Northern Territory.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the situation was not ideal.
"We would prefer better management of these arrangements but this is something that happened that was outside of our control," he said.
Unlike Western Australia, Victoria does not have restrictions on incoming domestic arrivals, but Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also criticised the way the New Zealand travel arrangements unfolded.
"We were asked, 'Do you want to be in the bubble?' and we said no," Andrews told reporters on Sunday.
NSW records one new local virus case.
NSW has recorded just one new locally-transmitted case of COVID-19 on Sunday, with a coronavirus cluster in southwest Sydney's Oran Park growing to 19.
The state recorded five new virus cases in total in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, with four in returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Almost 13,000 tests were performed.
NSW has reported 1 new case of locally transmitted #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. 4 cases in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine were also diagnosed, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 4,149. pic.twitter.com/qQ2xbrSF1C
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth)
NSW Health said in a statement on Sunday the locally-acquired infection was connected to Great Beginnings childcare in Oran Park.
All staff and children who attended the centre between October 2 and Tuesday have been told to get tested and self-isolate for a fortnight.
NSW recorded seven new cases of COVID-19 - including five local cases - in the preceding 24 hours, with all locally-acquired cases connected to Oran Park.
Melbourne Vixens claim 2020 Super Netball title.
A grand final eve pow-wow sharpened the Melbourne Vixens' focus before their pulsating 66-64 victory that handed them a third national netball league title.
After almost a century of days spent locked out of their home state due to COVID-19, the Vixens defeated the West Coast Fever at Brisbane's Nissan Arena on Sunday to secure the Super Netball championship and send retiring stars Caitlin Thwaites and Tegan Philip out in celebratory style.
With veterans Thwaites and Phillip signing off, and Victoria sweating on the outcome, the Vixens risked sending themselves into emotional overload in the decider.
But a team meeting on Saturday pulled the players even tighter together as coach Simone McKinnis demanded they concentrate only on themselves and what was an epic encounter.
"It was exhilaration, that moment when the game was over," McKinnis said. "And pride and relief and everything in between."
Lachie Neal: Winner of 2020 Brownlow medal.
Brisbane star Lachie Neale polled 31 votes from 17 games to win the 2020 Brownlow medal last night in a virtual ceremony.
"This is something I've looked up to ever since I was a kid," Lachie Neale told reporters. "My dad can reel off the last 40 Brownlow medallists I think. He might have a tear in his eye (doing it now)."
Lachie told report
Gemma Bath
True Crime Conversations host
No Comments
Be the first to leave a comment