Victoria’s current restrictions will be extended for a further seven days until Tuesday, 27 July at 11.59pm. The five reasons to leave home remain in place, as do the requirements to wear masks. This applies to Shepparton and all who live in the Goulburn Valley.
96 active cases, around 18,000 people in quarantine, and hundreds of exposure sites from Phillip Island to the Mallee – all in just over a week.
It’s this speed that’s most concerning – and with a growing list of exposure sites, our public health teams need time to get ahead of the virus, instead of just keeping pace with it.
Which is why, on the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, from 11.59pm tonight, Victoria’s current restrictions will be extended for a further seven days until Tuesday, 27 July at 11.59pm.
But the risk of new cases coming in from interstate, and potentially causing this lockdown to last even longer, is just as big of a concern.
And as a result, the Chief Health Officer will temporarily pause the issuing of Red Zone Permits from 11:59pm on Tuesday 20 July.
For at least the next two weeks, people coming from red zones will require an exemption to enter the state – and these will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
If people enter Victoria from New South Wales without an exemption, they will be put on a return flight or placed in 14 days mandatory quarantine.
This isn’t the news any Victorian wanted to hear, and we don’t need to remind anyone how hard this is.
But we are asking all Victorians to do their bit.
To follow the rules, to wear a mask whenever you leave your home, to check-in everywhere, every time, and to regularly check the exposure sites website.
To get tested at the first sign of symptoms and to get vaccinated as soon as you’re eligible.
We need every Victorian to play their part.
Just as you always have and just as I know you always will.
