Coronavirus: September 13-28

by James Poyner
13th September 2020

From midnight on September 13, metro Melbourne begins Step 1 of the State Government’s five step plan to get Victoria out of lockdown.
With curfew still in effect and the majority of Melburnians confined to home overnight, the updated restrictions will effective come into effect at 5am on Monday, September 14.
This is what the next two weeks look like for metro Melbourne, all the activities and restrictions listed below come into effect at 11:59pm on Sunday, September 13 and not before.
Curfew will continue to be a feature of our lives until we reach Step 3, which is currently projected to begin October 26, but the duration of the nightly curfew has been shortened to give Melburnians an extra hour in the evening, meaning curfew is now in effect between 9pm and 5am nightly.
As with conditions of curfew in the preceding six weeks, the only reasons to leave home during curfew are if you have a work permit to do so, or if it is an emergency.
Leaving your home to pick up take-away during curfew is not a permitted reason to leave home.
You are still able to purchase and consume food after 9pm, but by delivery only.

EXTENDED EXERCISE

The five-kilometre bubble will also continue, until we reach Step 3 but a major change is in leaving home to exercise and social bubbles.
The time allocated to exercise, off your premises, has been extended to a maximum of two hours and can be taken in either one or two sessions per day.
The type of activities that you can do, and who with, has also been expanded.
Whereas a feature of the previous six weeks was that, regardless of whether living in the same household or not, you could only exercise outside with one other person, this has been expanded to be either one other person, or the persons who live in the same household with you.
Outdoor playgrounds are allowed to open, but sports facilities and skate parks are still closed and activities such as reading a book or having a picnic in the park are allowed but must be with your household or one other person only.

BUBBLE BUDDIES

For people living on their own and/or single parents, Step 1 introduces the “social bubble” concept.
This additional measure will allow those living on their own to have one other person over in their home.
However, singles need to nominate their social bubble buddy now and must keep the same buddy until we enter Step 3.
You can visit your buddy and they can visit you as often as you like but, if they live in a shared household, then the other householders need to be out whenever you visit them.
Social bubble buddies can also spend the night at each other’s homes, but masks must be worn at all times and travel cannot happen during curfew hours.
However, if you and your bubble buddy are both living in metro Melbourne, the 5km limit does not apply.
This is different to an “intimate partner”, the rules of which continue from Stage 4.
Regional Victoria is still off limits.

NUMBERS IN STEADY DECLINE

When reporting on Saturday’s figures, the Chief Health Officer’s daily update stated the 14-day average for metro Melbourne was at 61.6.
This number is promising, alongside data which shows this is the first time the state has gone seven days with new active cases below 100.
The daily active cases condition for progressing to Step 2 for metro Melbourne is a 14-day average of 30-50 daily active cases and fewer than five per day for Step 3. Regardless of which way the active cases in Victoria go, the slightly relaxed Stage 4 restrictions will likely be in effect until at least September 28, so enjoy the extra hour in the sunshine, stay COVID Safe and look out for further updates in September’s WD Bulletin (Monday, September 21) and October.