COVID restrictions to ease in Melbourne from midnight tomorrow

Melburnians will once again be able to travel into Victorian regional areas when the intra-state border comes down from 11.59pm tomorrow.

In addition, a raft of restrictions in both Greater Melbourne and the state's regions will be eased tomorrow night, allowing larger public gatherings, increased capacities for hospitality businesses, and the reopening of gyms.

It comes after the state recorded five new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, including two announced yesterday afternoon and a further three linked to current outbreaks.

This latest outbreak led to an apartment complex in Southbank being placed into lockdown yesterday after an Arcare worker who lived at the complex tested positive and transmitted the virus to another resident.

Concurrently, South Australian health officials announced yesterday the state's border would soon reopen to those living in regional Victoria.

Once that change is in place, people entering SA from regional Victoria will still need to be tested for COVID-19 upon entry, but the conditions will be more relaxed on the border.

Further, with the snow season rapidly approaching, those intending on travelling to Victorian resorts must get tested at least 72 hours before departure and receive a negative result.

Restrictions to ease

From 11.59pm tomorrow several restrictions in Victoria will ease, with the rules differing for Greater Melbourne and the state's regions.

For Melbourne the following restrictions will ease:

• The 25km travel limit will be removed
• Public gatherings will be allowed for up to 20 people
• Gatherings in the home will be allowed with up to two visitors per day plus their dependants
• A number of businesses will reopen including gyms, indoor entertainment and electronic gaming with density limits and a COVIDsafe plan in place
• Hospitality venues can welcome 25 patrons before applying a density quotient
• Melburnians are still encouraged to work from home, but office sites can accommodate up to 50 per cent or 20 people, whichever is greater
• Community sport competitions will resume
• Masks are still recommended outdoors but remain mandatory for indoor settings

For regional Victoria the following restrictions will ease:

• Public gatherings will increase to up to 50 people
• Restaurants and cafes will have a maximum of 300 patrons for seated dining
• Smaller hospitality venues will have up to 25 people before any density quotient applies
• Religious ceremonies will have a maximum of 300 people in attendance
• Funerals will have 100 people in attendance
• Weddings will have 50 people in attendance
• Office sites will have up to 75 per cent of capacity on site, or 30 people whichever is greater
• Up to five adults will be allowed to visit another home per day plus their dependants

In addition, the state government is permitting a crowd of 7,000 people at the Geelong AFL game this weekend, provided all attendees are local and members of the two clubs playing.

These settings will be in place for the next seven days.

Updated at 12.47pm AEST on 16 June 2021.