Australasian Leisure Management
Oct 26, 2020

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews says Melbourne's Coronavirus restrictions will ease from Wednesday morning

With the state having recorded zero new Coronavirus cases and no deaths as of Monday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has advised Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will start being eased from midnight.

Retail outlets, cafes, restaurants and bars will be able to reopen, subject to patron limits, and more than two households will be able to gather outdoors.

Then, from midnight Sunday, more restrictions will be lifted, such as the 25-kilometre-radius limit on travel and the border between Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Speaking yesterday about the state's success in dealing with the Coronavirus, Premier Andrews (pictured) stated "with zero cases and so much testing over the weekend ... we are able to say that now is the time to open up.

"Now is the time to congratulate every single Victorian for staying the course (and) for being guided by the data, the science and the doctors."

The easing of restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria includes:

Metropolitan Melbourne, Second Step easing from 11:59pm tonight
Exercise in a group of up to 10 people from a maximum of two households outdoors in a public place (personal training is limited to two people plus the trainer). This replaces the limit of five people from a maximum of two households.

Some outdoor activities can take place in outdoor sport and recreation facilities. Outdoor sport and recreation facilities can open if:

• They are predominantly used for outdoor sport or physical recreation
• There is no equipment for hire or sharing
• Indoor facilities such as change rooms are not permitted for use, however toilet facilities are permitted to open.
• A limit of 10 people from 2 household per group or more than 10 if the entire group is from the same household and you must be able to keep 1.5 metres between yourself and others.
• Restrictions to no more than 10 people in the facility at once except where a distance of at least 100m between groups can be maintained (e.g. golf courses).
• Examples include some outdoor tennis courts, golf courses, or bowling greens.

Indoor swimming pools: open for one-on-one hydrotherapy sessions with a health professional where clinically indicated. No group sessions. Exceptions for private pools and professional sport

Outdoor swimming pools: open for exercise, limited to the number of people permitted by the density quotient to a maximum of 30 people other than for the following exceptions: Exclusive use by a single school at any one time for education purposes

Outdoor personal training is limited to two people, plus the personal trainer, but excluding children under 12 months. Equipment sharing is not permitted, and the trainer must wear a mask.

Publicly accessible outdoor playgrounds, outdoor communal gym equipment and outdoor skateparks can open, but playcentres, and trampolining centres are closed.
Indoor sports centres, including gyms and training facilities are closed.

Regional Victoria, measures as Third Step easing from 11:59pm tonight
For physical activity this includes:

Outdoor physical recreation:
Up to 10 people in any group, unless all members of the group are part of the same household

Physical distancing maintained, shared or communal equipment must be cleaned between users

Community Sport:

Outdoor non-contact sport can resume for adults:

• Non-contact sport is any sport where you can maintain 1.5 metres between p and others while playing.
• You can play sport with the number of people required to play plus necessary coaches and umpires.
• Spectators are not allowed.

Outdoor sport can resume for people who are 18 years of age and younger, this includes contact sport:

• You can play sport with the number of people required to play plus necessary coaches and umpires.
• Spectators are allowed if they are supervising children or supporting players with additional needs, while maintain gathering limits of less than 10 people.
• Toilets and communal changerooms are open
• Canteens, kiosks or at-venue dining facilities can open subject to the industry restart guidelines for hospitality
• A cap of 10 people in any cohort participating in an individual outdoor community sport (e.g. athletics, cycling, walking, bushwalking, trail walking)

Personal training: outdoors, up to 10 people, trainer not included in cap

Outdoor communal gym equipment: open

Fitness or dance classes (including classes associated with gyms):
Open for outdoor classes, up to 10 people, trainer not included in cap

Indoors: open but heavily restricted - open for recording and broadcast permitted only with minimum number of people required to conduct the recording/streaming, up to 5 people:

• Only one person at a time may be exempted from wearing a face covering under the strenuous physical exercise exemption E.g. the trainer leading the broadcast
• Shared equipment may be used if cleaned between each user and comply with density and other requirements

Outdoor swimming pools: Limited to the density quotient of the pool itself or 50 patrons per pool, whichever is smaller, other than for the following exceptions:
• Exclusive use by a single school at any one time for education purposes
• Exclusive use for community sport

Indoor pools (including swimming classes): open exclusively for those aged 18 years and under subject to pool maximum of 20 patrons or density quotient (1 person per four square metres).

Open for one-on-one hydrotherapy sessions with a health professional where clinically indicated. No group sessions

Camps:
Limited outdoor recreation camps open as an exclusive facility for a single school for educational purposes. Also, for tourism purposes for people who live together, are part of a household bubble and ensuring persons from separate bookings do not share bedrooms at the facility.

Publicly accessible playgrounds: open, outdoor only

Playcentres: closed

Skateparks: open, outdoor only

Trampolining centres: outdoor open, indoor closed

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