Face masks will only need to be worn in a “high risk settings” from Monday as the Victorian Government starts to ease COVID-19 restrictions.
Premier Daniel Andrews said masks still provided an “important insurance policy”.
“I know no-one enjoys wearing a mask, particularly at this time of the year but at the same time …. it just makes sense,” he said.
“The inconvenience is but a fraction of all the difficulty and challenge we face if we have extra cases and those cases get away from us.”
But masks weren’t the only relaxation announced on Thursday.
From Monday the private sector will allow to operate at 50 per cent of its workforce working from the office and the public sector will be at 25 per cent.
Despite the eased restrictions, Victorians trapped in NSW or Queensland will continue to play the waiting game.
Mr Andrews said he had no announcements to make on Thursday but added the ‘red zone’ in Sydney could be reduced to local government areas rather than the entire city.
“If conditions in Sydney are suitable favourable for us to reduce our focus to a smaller geographical footprint and therefore a smaller number of people then we’ll absolutely do that,” Mr Andrews said.
“That is becoming increasingly important given the return of school and the fact there may well be quarantine requirements when they come back to Melbourne or any other part of our state.
“We will make those announcements and confirm those arrangements as soon as we possibly can.”
Mr Andrews said the decisions are being made on advice from medical experts who are assessing the situations in NSW and Queensland daily.
