Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced further changes to Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions, revealing that up to two adults and their dependants will soon be permitted to visit someone else’s home once per day.
But the rules appear to be quite tricky for share houses, where multiple people may want to visit their separate mates at home on any given day.
Speaking in Melbourne Tuesday morning, Andrews revealed folks will be permitted one “visiting event” per day from 11.59pm tonight.
That means your household can only visit, or be visited by, one individual or household group per day.
“If you have somebody over to your house at, say, lunchtime, you can’t visit another house that night,” Andrews said.
“So mum and dad and two children go and visit grandma and grandpa, they can be there, provided they’re within the [25 kilometre travel limit],” he added.
“They can be there for as long as they choose to be there, but once they leave, neither they can go and visit anybody else, nor can grandma and grandpa have other visitors to their home that day.”
That’s easy to follow if you’re in a nuclear family unit. But if you’re thinking that might impact share houses: you’re exactly right.
“Share houses are a particularly challenging environment,” Andrews said, referencing how an interpersonal “rotation” may be required to make the limits work.
There’s more to come on how share houses visits will operate under the new guidelines. We’ll keep you posted.
Andrews said the guidelines are designed to limit interactions in the home, which the Victorian Government has circled as a particularly risky environment in terms of COVID-19 transmission.
Punters will be required to keep a record of who visits their home and when, in case the worst happens and they need to provide data to contact tracers.
By the same token, Andrews said the indoor visitor limits are set to continue past November 8 – the date which was yesterday pinned for the next batch of eased restrictions to come into play.
Outdoors visits are still possible, providing they involve no more than ten people.
Notably, Andrews said the new social visiting guidelines will not involve a ‘bubble’ arrangement. Visit whoever you want – as long as it’s your household’s only visit that day, and that the person you’re visiting ensures the same.
