Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has announced that Melbourne will be entering stage 4 coronavirus lockdown from Wednesday (August 5), shutting down retail almost entirely for the next six weeks.
This comes as Victoria struggles to contain the second wave of coronavirus, recording its equal-deadliest day since the pandemic began with 429 new cases of coronavirus and 13 deaths overnight.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Melbourne will be entering stage 4 restrictions, nearly shutting down the entire retail sector for the next six weeks amidst the second coronavirus wave.
Victoria and Melbourne are facing new restrictions after the teaming numbers of coronavirus in the state. Yesterday, the Premier announced new sets of restrictions including a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am, unless “travelling to and from work, receiving medical care or providing care,” and that Victorians must remain within a strict 5km radius of their homes or face copping a hefty $1600 fine.
Today, Andrews announced some changes to the workforce, notably shutting down the states retail sector, apart from essential services; that being supermarkets, chemists, service stations, banks, news agencies, post offices, and Victoria’s pandemic response. The six-week closure is set to kick off from midnight Wednesday, meaning that there are only two more days to shop for non-essential goods and to go to work as usual.
Dictator Dan at it again. You won’t even take responsibility if this doesn’t work. Instead, you’ll just implement more restrictions with zero evidence that it will work.
— James Crown (@JCinthehousett) August 3, 2020
However, the Premier has also sent out a friendly reminder for citizens to not return to our dickhead, panic-buying ways. “There’ll be more to go around if people buy what they need when they need it rather than going and buying four trolleys worth of groceries and enough chicken or beef to last you until Christmas,” he stated in a recent press conference.
So, after Wednesday, don’t expect to be heading down to the shops to unwind with some retail therapy, with news.com.au confirming that the closures will be applied to even the biggest players in Australian retail; including Target, Kmart, and Westfield.
With all these closures, it’s expected that only the most necessary workforce members will be on the job, with the rest of Victoria urged to stay home and only go out for the most essential of essentials.
It’s not all bad news though, with Andrews at least listing the bottle-o as an essential business. We reckon Victoria might need a few bevvies through these six weeks. Hang in there, Vic.
Thanks Dan ✌ you’re doing a great job, considering how new and disastrous this situation is.
— Charli (@CharliRoseB) August 3, 2020
