Victoria declares state of disaster, Melbourne curfew introduced, stage four restrictions introduced
August 2, 2020
Victoria will declare a state of disaster and stage four restrictions will be imposed from 6pm tonight. These include a Melbourne curfew for the next six weeks.
There have been 671 new coronavirus cases recorded in Victoria overnight, and a further seven deaths.
A state of disaster across Victoria means that police and others have additional powers.
The government can also suspend various acts of the parliament.
Under the state of disaster provisions, from 8pm until 5am tonight a curfew will be implemented across Melbourne.
“You will no longer be able to leave home and go any further away from your home than a 5km radius. You will not be able to be at any point more than 5km away from your home for the purposes of shopping for what you need,” Mr Andrews said.
The stay at home restrictions for metro Melbourne will be enhanced and there will be additional limits to the four reasons to leave home.
“You will no longer be able to leave home and go any further away from your home than a 5km radius. You will not be able to be at any point more than 5km away from your home for the purposes of shopping for what you need,” Mr Andrews said.
“Only one person will be able to go shopping once per day and they will need to secure the goods and services that are what you need within a 5km radius.
“In terms of exercise, recreational is now no longer allowed. You will be able to have one hour of exercise, no further than 5km from your home. That means it’s fresh air. It’s a jog. It’s a walk. It’s in your local neighbourhood.”
On the curfew, Mr Andrews added: “Police will be out in force and you will be stopped and you will be asked and need to demonstrate that you are lawfully out and you are not breaching that curfew.
“Going to a mate’s place, visiting friends, being out and about for no good reason, all that will do is spread this virus.”
From midnight next Wednesday, regional Victoria will move to stage three restrictions.
“That’s stay at home, except for the four reasons to leaving,” Mr Andrews said.
“That will mean restaurants, cafes, bars, gyms, a whole range of other settings will need to close from midnight next Wednesday.
“In regional Victoria and then we have a situation where as we are perhaps bringing stability and reduced numbers to metropolitan Melbourne, we have a problem that is even larger and spread right across regional Victoria.”
Changes to force temporary close down of business and industries are now being spoken about, but the real detail will come tomorrow.
“There will be three categories of industries,” Mr Andrews said.
“Those that are business as usual. I want to ensure all Victorians supermarkets, the butcher, the baker, food, beverage, groceries, those types of settings, there will be no impact there.
More to come …
You can get up-to-date information from the Federal Government’s Coronavirus Australia app, available on the App Store, Google Play and theGovernment’s WhatsApp channel.
Beyond Blue’s Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service is a 24/7 service free of charge to all Australians. Visit the site here or call 1800512348 Source: 9news
