Victorian health minister Martin Foley has announced the reintroduction of some “relatively mild restrictions”, just as the state records 21,997 new cases of coronavirus.
From tonight, new density quotients will apply in a number of settings. There’ll be a limit of one person per two square metres in indoor hospitality and entertainment venues, similar to the rule that has been in place in NSW since before the new year.
The only exception will be indoor cinemas and theatres where people are seated and masked.
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SIGN UP“We think this is a sensible change, particularly in the face of the continued huge growth in transmission, particularly amongst young people,” Foley said in a press conference. “Yesterday’s formal figures – 40 per cent of those cases were people in their twenties, and every indication is it’s overwhelmingly from hospitality and related environments.
“Interaction in those hospitality and entertainment venues is close, it’s crowded, it’s active and it’s mobile … These relativity mild restrictions are about making sure that activity can continue … in a less congregated and a less active space.”
And, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced yesterday that positive rapid antigen test results do not need to be verified with a PCR test, Foley today announced it will be mandatory to report positive RAT results to the Department of Health and Human Services. It will need to be done via an online form or by phone; the system will be active from tomorrow.
Those who test positive via a RAT are subject to the same isolation requirements as those who test positive via a PCR test.
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