Taking the Third Step on Thursday

Published on 15 September 2020

For those in Regional Victoria waking up on Thursday morning, they will see the start of not just a new day, but the beginning of the Third Step on the road to COVID normal.  

Regional Victoria is opening up and the ‘four reasons’ to leave home rule will end. This means that travel within the state is allowed for regional Victorians, but only to places that are also at the Third Step.   

In good news for people craving social interaction, public gatherings will be allowed for groups of up to 10 people meeting outdoors. Household visits will be allowed in a household-based ‘bubble’. This means that you can have visitors from one other nominated household allowing a maximum of five people from that household to visit at a time.  

On-site learning for all primary and secondary students will return in Term 4, with more details to come on this.  

Outdoor seated dining with table service will be allowed to return for cafes and restaurants, with groups of up to 10.  

Outdoor contact and non-contact sport for under 18s will be allowed. Non-contact sport for adults will be allowed with gathering and density limits.  For further information about organised sport, please refer to the Victorian Government website. 

Adding to the list of recreational activity options, outdoor skate parks will be allowed to open, and outdoor fitness can commence for groups of up to 10 people.  

Weddings will be allowed to have 10 people, funerals are allowed to have 20 and outdoor religious gatherings are allowed for up to 10 people.  

Despite this slight relaxing of restrictions from Thursday, vigilance is still important to keep COVID-19 case numbers down.  

Sticking with personal hygiene actions, including regular hand washing, wearing of face masks and social distancing is vital, as is staying home if you are feeling unwell, getting tested if you have Coronavirus symptoms and self-isolating while you wait for results. 

Taking personal responsibility to keep following the guidelines will help to ensure we can all look forward to moving towards the fourth step, and COVID normal.  

If you would like to find out more about COVID-19 impacts on Council services, please visit the HRCC website.

Photo by Jake Hills