Melbourne hospitality venues will be allowed to reopen from Sunday November 1, 11.59pm.
A maximum of 20 people will be allowed inside, while 50 people will be permitted outside.
In regional Victoria, hospitality venues can increase their capacity to 70 people outside and 40 people inside from 11.59pm tonight.
The news comes as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the easing of restrictions across the state as coronavirus case numbers continue to stay low.
From 11:59pm tonight in metropolitan Melbourne, residents will be allowed to travel up to 25 kilometres from their home, up from the previous five-kilometre radius limit. Ten people from a maximum of two households can gather outside. The time limit for exercising or socialising outdoors will be scrapped.
According The Premier flagged Melbourne hospitality venues may open earlier than November 1, subject to public health advice.
“If we continue to track well on the most important indicators – case averages, mystery cases, test numbers and the number of days people wait before they get tested – we may be in a position to move sooner,” said the Premier at a press conference this morning.
“My commitment to Melburnians: we’ll review this data each and every day this week and when we get to next weekend, if we can move any earlier and do it safely, we will.”
“When we do reach the third step it will also mean we move from ‘stay home’ to ‘stay safe’ – with no restrictions on the reasons to leave home. Under this step, all remaining retail will open. Restaurants, cafés and pubs will open.”
He said from October 28, hospitality venues will be permitted to have staff onsite to prepare for their November re-opening.
Melbourne residents have effectively been in lockdown since stage-three restrictions were re-imposed on July 8, with restaurants, cafés and pubs restricted to takeaway trade, and residents limited to travelling within a five-kilometre radius of their homes.
According to Victoria’s roadmap out of restrictions, the state will move to the last step out of restrictions if the state records no new cases of COVID-19 for 14 days. If this happens, indoor dining limits will increase to 50, and outdoor dining will be subject to “density quotients”.
