Please note What's New in the MAA office
updated 10/06/2021
NEW RULES FOR MELBOURNE
Source: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covidsafe-settings
What’s changing in metropolitan Melbourne from 11.59pm Thursday 10 June 2021:
Stay at home requirement removed:
- 25km travel limit replaces 10km limit
- Can travel further than 25km for work, education, care or getting vaccinated
- Restrictions remain on travel to regional Victoria, with only limited reasons to travel. You may not travel to regional Victoria to socially visit friends and family, or go on holidays.
Face coverings
- Required outdoors, unless an exception applies
- Required indoors, (not in private homes), or when an exception applies
- A face mask must be carried at all times
Public social gatherings:
- Maximum of 10 people outside the home
- Private gatherings in the home are not permitted, Social bubble buddy and intimate partners are still allowed. You may travel further than 25 km to visit your social bubble buddy or intimate partner, including regional Victoria.
Return to work
- Work from home if you can
- Office capacity limit of 25% or cap of 10 people, whichever is greater
What's opening
*density of 1 person per 4sqm in most venues
- All retail
- Food and drink venues - seated, maximum 100 people, 50 indoors
- School onsite for all students
- Religious venues - maximum of 50 people
- Funerals - maximum of 50 mourners
- Weddings - maximum of 10 guests
- Outdoor physical recreation - maximum 100 people per venue – no limit if 100 metre distance can be maintained
- Community sport – training can resume with minimum number of participants required to participate in the training, but the 25km travel limit applies
- Outdoor swimming pools, spas - maximum 100 people
- Outdoor seated entertainment - 50% capacity, max 100 people
- Hairdressing, beauty and personal care may open - masks must be worn
What’s changing in Regional Victoria from 11.59pm Thursday 10 June 2021:
Visitors to your home
- 2 adults daily, together or separate, plus dependants
Public social gatherings
- Maximum of 20 people outside the home
Open (most subject to a density of 1 per 4sqm):
- Food and drink venues - seated, maximum of 150 people per venue, with a maximum of 75 indoors
- Religious venues - max 150 people per venue, max 75 indoors
- Funerals - max 75 people
- Weddings - max 20 people, including the couple and witnesses
- Hairdressing, beauty can remain open - customer can remove mask for service
- Indoor physical recreation - max 150 people per venue, max 50 inside.
- Outdoor community sport - all ages training and competition with minimum number of people required to participate in the activity.
- Outdoor physical recreation – maximum of 150 people per venue - no venue limit if 100 meters can be maintained
- Indoor play centres, skate parks, trampolining - max 50 people inside
- Indoor entertainment venues - seated and unseated, 75 people
10/06/2021
METROPOLITAN MELBOURNE CIRCUIT-BREAKER LOCKDOWN
Restrictions apply to Metropolitan Melbourne
from 11:59pm Thursday June 3 to 11:59pm Thursday June 10
MASKS
Masks compulsory everywhere other than inside the home
PERSONAL SERVICES
Beauty salons, hairdressers and personal treatments must close
REASONS TO LEAVE HOME
1. Shopping for essential items (within 10km)
2. Exercise (max 2 hrs) with one other person (within 10km)
3. Caregiving
4. Work where working from home not possible
5. To get vaccinated or tested
GATHERINGS
No public gatherings allowed
HOSPITALITY
Restaurants, pubs, cafes etc can provide takeaway only
SPORTING EVENTS
Approved professional sporting events will go ahead without crowds. Community sport not permitted
FUNERALS/WEDDINGS
Funerals permitted with max 10 people. Weddings not permitted except for end of life or deportation purposes
VISITORS
No visitors to the home except for intimate partners or for care and caregiving
People who live alone can establish a social bubble with one other person
RETAIL
Other than essentials like supermarkets, pharmacies & petrol stations, retail stores must close except for Click & Collect. Service Vic QR code app required to record attendance
CHILDCARE/SCHOOLS
Childcare will remain open.
Year 11, 12 and Unit 3/4 VCE studies students can return to face to face learning. All other years to continue remote learning except for vulnerable children and children of essential workers
REGIONAL VICTORIA'S CIRCUIT-BREAKER LOCKDOWN
Restrictions apply to Regional Victoria
from 11:59pm Thursday June 3 to 11:59pm Thursday June 10
MASKS
Masks must be worn indoors other than inside the home and outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained
PERSONAL SERVICES
Services where a mask can be work to open, density quota of 1 person per 4sqm applies
REASONS TO LEAVE HOME
Can leave home for any reason
GATHERINGS
Public gatherings permitted for up to 10 people, private gatherings not permitted
HOSPITALITY
Restaurants, pubs, cafes etc open for seated service up to 50 people. Group sizes up to 10 people. Density quota of 1 person per 4sqm applies
SPORTING EVENTS
Approved professional sporting events will go ahead without crowds. Community sport permitted for children
FUNERALS/WEDDINGS
Funerals permitted with max 50 people (and funeral conductors). Weddings permitted with no more than 10 people (including the two persons being married, celebrant and two witnesses)
VISITORS
No visitors to the home except for intimate partners or for care and caregiving
People who live alone can establish a social bubble with one other person
RETAIL
All retail can open, density quota of 1 person per 4sqm applies. Service Vic QR code app required
CHILDCARE/SCHOOLS
Childcare will remain open. Schools will return to face to face learning for all year levels
Source: https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-victoria-update-six-new-local-cases-recorded-lockdown-extension-latest-numbers/05207750-edf8-4763-a66e-d1494b050603
updated 02.06.2021
VICTORIA RESTRICTION: UPDATED 27.05.2021
This means all Remedial Therapist in Victoria will not be permitted to work during this 7 days period as specified above. Only Allied Health Workers professionals are permitted to work during these time.
A summary of this advice is outlined below;
Definition of Authorised Workers
Authorised workers pertains to work considered essential and includes:
- the continued operation of Allied Health students on placements, when undertaking critical training and examinations
- Allied Health working in private or public community services, whether clinic or home-based, providing essential clinical care where telehealth services are not clinically appropriate. e.g orthotists and prosthetists providing services such as fitting a brace post-surgery
- immunisation and vaccination providers including pharmacy immunisers and Aboriginal Healthcare Workers.
For this purpose, essential clinical care is defined as:
• to prevent a significant change/deterioration in functional independence which would result in an escalation of care needs (e.g. an increase in frequency of treatment needed, an increased need for prescription medication due to a significant increase in pain, requirement for specialist input or review, an increase in care needs, and/or a substantial increase to anticipated recovery time associated with a delay in receiving services)
• to provide assessment and diagnostic services to clients / patients whose care have been delayed as a result of previous restrictions, with any further delay likely to result in deterioration in functional independence or adverse health outcomes (including access to diagnostic imaging services or assessment for prescription of assistive equipment and technology)
• to provide services that are essential as part of a broader plan of care with a medical practitioner (e.g. fitting a brace post-surgery)
• to provide services that are part of a conservative management plan to avoid or delay elective surgery (as agreed with treating team)
• to provide services immediately following elective surgery that prevent secondary complications or aid functional recovery (as agreed with treating team).
We would ask that you reinforce this definition with your members, routine care is not permitted.
Definition of Authorised Health Services
- Pharmacy and urgent services are permitted to open under circuit breaker restrictions.
- Allied Health services provided by allied health professionals working as authorised workers in hospitals or in residential care facilities providing critical clinical care or as directed by the hospital; or
- Allied Health workers professionals working in private or public community services, whether clinic-based or home-based, providing essential clinical care where telehealth services are not clinically appropriate; or
- Allied Health services provided by allied health professionals working in private practice providing care through telehealth and other virtual care options
- Allied Health professionals providing mental health services in hospital; or
- Allied Health professionals providing mental health services in community settings by telehealth, or by face-to-face (but only
for urgent care where telehealth is not clinically appropriate)
- Students, medical/nursing/midwifery/allied health on placement providing authorised care in hospitals or in residential care facilities, or through telehealth.
Allied Health Professions
Thursday, 27 May 2021
On the advice of our public health team, Victoria will move to circuit breaker restrictions from 11:59pm tonight.
These settings will remain in place until 11:59pm on 3 June – but if we can end that sooner, we will. As we've seen here, and across Australia, this kind of short, sharp action is effective in stopping this thing in its tracks.
Our public health experts’ prime concern: just how fast the B1.617.1 variant is moving.
Overseas, they haven’t been able to track how quickly this version of the virus can move. Here in Victoria, though, we’re seeing not only how quick it is – but how contagious it is too.
Our contract tracers are identifying and locking down first ring, second ring and third ring contacts within 24 hours. That’s faster than ever. And yet this variant is still moving faster. The time between catching the virus and passing it on is tighter than ever.
The ‘serial interval’ – how long it takes between the onset of symptoms in the first and secondary case – is in many cases just over a day.
And in just 24 hours, the number of cases has doubled.
It means that although these cases are all connected, this variant of the virus is making people more infectious, more quickly.
We’ve seen other countries come up against these variants and lose. Badly. Places like Taiwan that have gone from no or very low cases to skyrocketing numbers in the space of just days and weeks – and now are struggling to get it under control.
We also know our nation’s vaccine rollout has been slower than we’d hoped. And if more people were vaccinated, we might be facing a different set of circumstances. Sadly, were not.
If we make the wrong choice now, if we wait too long, if we hesitate too much, this thing will get away from us. And lives will be at risk.
It’s why from 11:59pm tonight, there will be five reasons to leave home:
Food and supplies. Authorised work. Care and caregiving. Exercise, for up to two hours and with one other person. And getting vaccinated.
Exercise and shopping will be limited to five kilometres from home. If there’s no shops in your 5km radius, you can travel to the ones closest to you. Shopping is also limited to one person per day, per household.
Face masks will also need to be worn inside and outdoors – everywhere except your own home.
Private and public gatherings will not be permitted, although visiting your intimate partner continues to be okay. Single person bubbles will also be allowed.
Media contact: xxx
Childcare and kinder will remain open, but schools will need to close other than for the children of authorised workers and vulnerable kids.
Shops like supermarkets, food stores, bottle shops, banks, petrol stations and pharmacies will also remain open. Cafes and restaurants will be able to offer take-away only. Gyms, hairdressers, community facilities and entertainment venues will all close. Non-essential retail may only open for click and collect.
Hotels and accommodation can only stay open to support guests already staying onsite. No new bookings can be made – unless it’s for one a permitted purpose, like authorised work. Advice on who can open, and who can’t, will be made available online ahead of directions coming into place – as will the full list of authorised workers and workplaces.
It’s clear – more than ever – this virus isn’t going away. And vaccines are the only way we’ll ever get back to normal.
Without full vaccination, this virus will just keep mutating – and just keep making its way back in.
To that end, from tomorrow and dependent upon supply from the Federal Government, all Victorians over the age of 40 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
My message to those Victorians: if you’re eligible, get vaccinated. Make your plan today.
If someone you love is eligible, make a plan together.
Do it for yourself. Your family. Your friends. Your community. Whatever your motivation – please do it.
Because vaccination is our only real ticket out of this pandemic.
Media contact: xxx
27.05.2021