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Merlino confirms restrictions in regional Victoria will ease from midnight
Acting Premier James Merlino has confirmed restrictions in regional Victoria will ease from midnight tonight.
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This comes as Victoria recorded three new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, all of which are primary close contacts previously identified.
The five reasons to leave home will be scrapped in regional Victoria from 11.59 pm tonight, as will the 5km travel limit from homes.
But visitors to homes will still not be permitted, and masks still need to be worn inside.
Regional Victorians will only be able to travel to Melbourne for permitted reasons and must follow Melbourne restrictions once they are there.
No "ring of steel" will separate metropolitan and regional Victoria, but businesses that are open in regional Victoria and closed in Melbourne, such as restaurants and beauty salons, must check IDs of everyone they serve.
Service Victoria QR requirements will also be expanded, making it mandatory to check in to retail settings, such as supermarkets and shops.
Outdoor public gatherings will increase to 10 people, food and hospitality will be allowed seated service with a 50-patron cap and retail and personal services such as beauty and tattooing can resume where masks can remain on.
Religious ceremonies and funerals will be capped at 50 people, and weddings at 10.
All school students will return to face-to-face schooling from tomorrow.
People are encouraged to work from home if they can, with offices capped at 20 people or 50 per cent of capacity, whichever is greater.
While Melbourne's lockdown has been extended another seven days, some restrictions have eased slightly for metropolitan areas.
Regional Victoria is still on edge after a Euroa petrol station was added to Victoria's growing list of high-risk exposure sites late Tuesday night.
Anyone who attended BP Euroa at 29 Tarcombe St between 5 pm and 6 pm on Monday, May 24 must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.
Benalla's Royal Freemasons aged care home was swiftly locked down on Wednesday after a staff member confirmed they had visited the Tier 1 site.
A Royal Freemasons spokesperson said one staff member was a primary close contact and another was a secondary close contact of a member of the community who also attended the exposure site.
“We have immediately locked down the home as a precaution, notified the Department of Health, commenced full PPE and commenced testing all our residents and staff,” the spokesperson said.
“No staff or residents at Royal Freemasons have tested positive to COVID-19."
The Euroa BP was listed as a high-risk location after it was revealed a Victorian man visited the site while possibly infectious.
The man was travelling back to Melbourne on May 24 with his family following a holiday in Jervis Bay when he stopped at the BP.
Following health department advice, two BP staff members are isolating for 14 days, while other workers can return to work once they receive a negative result.
"Staff have started to get their results back and to date all are negative which is extremely pleasing for all concerned," Chris Richardson, who is the general manager of Vantage Fuels which operates BP Euroa, said.
Mr Richardson added the site was currently closed for deep-cleaning.
"The certificate from the cleaning company has been provided to (the Department of Health and Human Services) and we are awaiting clearance from DHHS to reopen," he said.
The spouse and two children of the Victorian man who visited the BP have also tested positive for COVID-19, with health authorities still investigating which family member caught the infection first, and where they acquired it.
This morning, Queensland announced it was extending its coronavirus hotspot declaration for Victoria for at least another seven days.
The Northern Territory has also expanded its hotspot declaration to include the whole of Victoria.
From midday today, anyone who arrives in the Territory from Victoria must undertake 14 days of supervised quarantine at the Howard Springs or Alice Springs facilities.
Today's cases come after 57,519 test results and almost 24,000 COVID-19 vaccinations at state-run vaccination sites.
For a full list of Victoria's more than 370 exposure sites, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
Senior Journalist