The City of Greater Geelong is preparing to reopen a range of its public facilities in line with the proposed easing of restrictions in regional Victoria.
On the back of no community transmission in regional Victoria, the state government today announced that regional restrictions would ease from Friday 4 June.
However, the government has flagged that the proposed changes are subject to further testing and contact tracing and will not be confirmed until Thursday.
Greater Geelong Mayor, Stephanie Asher (pictured) welcomed the lifting of the regional lockdown, which would allow freedom of travel and a raft of businesses to resume trade.
“This will give our community members a real morale boost and will be a massive relief for local businesses, who have been hit hard during the pandemic,” Mayor Asher said.
“I thank all our residents for doing their bit, following the lockdown rules and supporting one another.”
The City is awaiting further detailed information on the government’s directions before confirming which facilities will reopen.
Mayor Asher said the statewide lockdown, which would continue next week in Melbourne, highlighted the need for more targeted support to affected industries and traders.
“If snap lockdowns are going to be an ongoing feature of our COVID-19 response, targeted wage subsidy support for business from governments needs to be explored,” Mayor Asher said.
“Our hospitality and tourism workforce is heavily casualised, and given we enjoy a high proportion of visitation from the Melbourne area, they need a significant level of assistance.”
