From 5pm tonight the following restrictions will be in place in Victoria:
- the limit of people gathering in the home will be reduced to 15 from 30.
- masks will be mandatory indoors.
If you are planning to leave your home – take a mask and it needs to be worn anytime you’re inside apart from when you’re eating or drinking.
We all need to be COVID Safe – don’t go into the city unless you have a booking, wear a mask indoors, practice good hand hygiene.
If you are sick – stay at home.
Anyone who has been in or visited the Blue Mountains or Wollongong regions from 27 December will have until 11.59pm tonight to enter Victoria.
You must apply for a new travel permit through Service Victoria, get tested within 24 hours of returning to Victoria, and self-quarantine at home for 14 days from when you last left the region.
Many of you have asked if you’re allowed to stop to eat or for a toilet break if driving from NSW to Victoria. Here’s what you need to know. (1/6)
You are required to travel immediately and directly to your home for the period of quarantine, but you need to do this safely particularly if you are driving long distances. (2/6)
If you are driving from NSW to Vic you can stop for toilet breaks, food, drinks or petrol. However, you cannot stop to go to the shops, or visit others on the way home. Only stop when necessary. Minimise the amount of time you spend at a stop. Keep a record of your stops. (3/6)
Exposure site: Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant in Black Rock on 21 December 2020.
Anyone who attended the Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant on the evening of 21 December 2020 is asked to seek testing, to quarantine at home and contact the department.
(1/4)
The 3 cases identified yesterday all have direct or indirect links to the venue that evening. 1 case and 2 close contacts of cases attended, as did a returned traveller from NSW.
(2/4)
That traveller is being tested as a matter of urgency today. They returned from NSW prior to Victoria’s border permit system being instigated. We’re working closely with NSW Health and with the restaurant and contact tracing is underway.
(3/4)
UPDATE. Exposure sites now include:
• Black Rock: Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant. 21 December
• Doveton: Holy Family Parish Doveton Catholic. 26/12/20, 4:00pm-6:00pm
• Mentone: Mentone/Parkdale Beach. 27/12/20, 10:00am - 4:30pm
(1/6)
• Fountain Gate Shopping Centre: Kmart, Big W, Target, Millers, King of Gifts. 26/12/20, 9:00am-11:00am
• Glen Waverley: Century City Walk and Mocha Jo’s. 28/12/20, 1:30pm-5:00pm
• Oakleigh: Katialo restaurant, Eaton Mall. 28/12/20, 7:00pm-8:15pm
(2/6)
• Cape Schank: National Golf Club, The Cups Drive. 30/12/20, 11.40am – 1.30pm
Advice:
• If you were at any of these locations during the listed times, you must get tested, and isolate until you get a negative result.
(3/6)
Update: New border restrictions will come into effect from 11:59pm 31 December.
If you have visited the Blue Mountains or Wollongong regions from 27 December, you have until then to return to Victoria.
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Green Zone permits that were issued for the Blue Mountains & Wollongong are no longer valid. You must apply for a new travel permit through Service Victoria, get tested within 24hrs of returning to Victoria, & self-quarantine at home for 14 days from when you last left the region
Victoria’s border with New South Wales remains closed and no one who has been in the Northern Beaches area, Greater Sydney, and the NSW Central Coast can enter.
From 11.59 tonight, 18 December, a permit system will be in place for all people travelling from New South Wales into Victoria. Anyone who has been to hot spot (red zone) locations will not be permitted to travel into Victoria.
(1/4)
🔴 Anyone arriving from the Northern Beaches and other NSW exposure sites (red zone) will not be permitted to enter. Passengers arriving from a red zone will be transferred to Hotel Quarantine where they will be required to remain for 14 days.
(2/4)
🟠 Anyone from NSW travelling from Greater Sydney (orange zone) is encouraged to get tested on arrival and self-quarantine until they receive a negative result.
🟢 Those travelling from regional NSW (green zone) will be asked to monitor for symptoms.
Getting a pic with Saint Nick is going to be a little different this year. Father Christmas may look a sprightly young fellow but he’s actually in an at-risk group for coronavirus (COVID-19). On top of that he comes into contact with hundreds of people every day. (1/4)
To protect him, and the people he comes into contact with, here’s what you need to know about getting this year’s photo:
🎅Many venues require a pre-booking so check with your local shopping centre beforehand. (2/4)
🎅Physical contact is not allowed this year, so you’ll need to stay 1.5 metres from Santa, his helpers and from other people in the queue.
🎅You can take off your mask for the photo with Santa, but please remember to keep it on at all other times. (3/4)