With coronavirus numbers in Victoria now on a more-than-steady decline, Premier Dan Andrews has given his strongest indication yet that restrictions in Melbourne could be eased further than State Government’s initial COVID Roadmap stipluated.
Despite rampant calls to the contrary (particularly from business and economic groups keen to harangue the Premier for treating the public health crisis as exactly that) Andrews has, until today, been hesitant to suggest that movement restrictions currently in place could be eased ahead of schedule.
However in today’s daily press conference, the Premier hinted that the next phase of planned restrictions could be broadened.
Andrews was asked point-blank if he was considering expanding the scope of the roadmap out of restrictions given Victoria’s falling instances of coronavirus. The Premier’s response was blunt: “Yes, I am.”
“I’m not in a position give you the full list of what we’re looking at,” Andrews was at pains to stress. “We don’t want to do something that might seem quite small but could present a significant challenge to us in a couple of weeks’ time. That’s part of the nature of this virus.”
“I can’t give you a list of all the things we’re looking at because a lot of them are nowhere near settled. It’s all about modelling. The numbers are coming down, the trend is positive and that’s a credit to everybody who has helped to deliver this outcome.”
Victoria recorded just 15 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, on the back of 15,741 new tests. That testing field represents a massively increased number on the previous handful of days.
Additionally, the 14-day rolling average of new cases in Metropolitan Melbourne now sits at 29.4. That’s now below the target window of 30 – 50 average cases that was required by this coming Sunday for Melbourne to move to its next phase of eased restrictions.
Per the State Government’s previously announced roadmap, Step 2 would see Melburnians permitted to gather outside in groups of up to 5 (from a maximum of 2 households). Childcare and face-to-face schooling would also recommence via a staggered return. However the nightly curfew, the 5km travel radius, and the Four Reasons To Leave Home directives are, for now, scheduled to remain in place.
Dan Andrews is due to deliver a significant update on Victoria’s progression out of lockdown this coming Sunday.
