Benjamin Millar
Moorabool will enter lockdown from 1pm today after a surge in regional COVID-19 cases triggered a statewide lockdown.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the snap lockdown on Saturday morning, citing to the ongoing level of community transmission, the large number of mystery cases and a surge of new cases and exposures sites outside of metropolitan Melbourne
Mr Andrews said the number of coronavirus cases who have been infectious out in the community over the last few days and the number of mystery cases emerging in different areas across Victoria is extremely concerning.
“It shows the incredible speed at which this Delta variant is spreading,” he said.
“With the number of positive cases this high and so many Victorians still to be vaccinated, we cannot afford to let this virus run free – our hospital system would be overrun, our frontline staff would be placed under huge pressure and quite simply, people will die.”
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has declared that all metropolitan Melbourne restrictions – except for the curfew – will be implemented across regional Victoria from 1pm today until 11.59pm Thursday, September 2.
In regional Victoria there will be only five reasons to leave your home: to get the food and the supplies you need, to exercise for up to two hours no more than 5km from your home, for care or caregiving, authorised work or education if you can’t do it from home, or to get vaccinated at the nearest possible location.
Face masks remain mandatory outdoors and indoors other than at home unless an exception applies.
Workforce permits will also be required to leave the house for authorised work from 11.59pm Monday.
Playgrounds, basketball hoops, skate parks and outdoor exercise equipment will be closed and masks will also not be able to be removed to drink alcoholic beverages.
Exercise will be limited to just one other person, plus dependants if they can’t be left at home.
The high rate of transmission in young people and the number of childcare centres now designated as exposure sites has forced the closure of childcare centre services across Victoria to children except those whose parents are authorised workers and cannot be supervised at home.
Primary school aged children are also urged to wear a mask when away from home.
