Cafes, restaurants, and pubs in Victoria will be able to reopen their doors from next month as part of a staged re-opening announced by state government on Saturday.
From 1 June venues will be allowed to re-open to serve meals for up to 20 customers at a time. Victorian Premier Daniels Andrews said the number of patrons could be increased to up to 50 patrons from 22 June, and up to 100 patrons during the second half of July, depending on how the state is tracking.
“The hospitality industry is one of the pillars of the Victorian economy and has been among the hardest hit by this pandemic – re-opening the venues we all love is a critical piece of the puzzle in saving jobs and restoring our local communities, “ Andrews said, adding “a number of precautions will be put in place” to guide reopening.
All venues will need to abide by existing physical distancing requirements of one person per four square metres. Tables will also need to be spaced at least 1.5 metres apart. Venues will be required to take the contact details of every customer to assist in rapid contact tracing. There will also be additional safety requirements including extra cleaning, staff health screening and temperature checks.
“We need to be really clear though: this is not a done deal. These timelines will depend on how we’re tracking. And just as we’ve used evidence to inform our decisions the whole way through this – these next steps will be no different,” Andrews said.
“If, in the coming weeks, we see a sudden upswing in community exposures from an unknown source – we may have to make the call to delay. Similarly, if an initial opening led to a whole series of uncontrolled crowds or breaches –we’d look at that pretty seriously too.”
Andrews said further work will need to be done on how the sector manage shared areas such as entrances and bathrooms “and will be done in consultation with the industry and unions and on the advice of our public health team”.
Once in place, these changes will apply to standalone restaurants and cafes, as well as restaurants and bistros within a pub, hotel, bar, registered and licensed club, RSL or community club. Restrictions on other spaces within these kinds of venues – including public bars and gaming areas – will remain in place throughout June, as will restrictions on food courts.
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