Should restrictions in REGIONAL MELBOURNE be eased?

Regional Victoria, which has had much fewer cases than metropolitan Melbourne, gets to skip the first step and go straight to the second step. It’s a slightly relaxed version of the stage 3 restrictions everyone outside of Melbourne has been living under for six weeks.

Public gatherings of up to five people from up to two households are allowed, and babies under 12 months old are not counted in that limit. Outdoor religious gatherings of up to five people one one faith leader are back. Playgrounds are back open in regional Victoria too, as well as outdoor pools.

Hundreds of thousands of Victorians across the state are living in coronavirus-free zones. But for now, they’re still subjected to a tough stage 3 lockdown.

Pub owner Mitch Duncan, who runs The Farmers Arms Hotel in Daylesford, is one of them.

“The frustrating part that a lot of people don’t understand is that if you have no cases, why can’t you open up?” he said.

He said he and other business owners could not see the sense in remaining closed when the risk was low locally.” Common sense would suggest that any region, town or area that doesn’t have any active cases should be allowed to be able to fully open,” he said.

Bendigo Health chief executive Peter Faulkner said that, on a personal level, he would like restrictions to be eased.

“Of course, being responsible for health services, I am a bit conflicted because caution is required,” he said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said decisions would be made on science, data and modelling, but that regional Victoria was “on the cusp” of easing restrictions.