Documents leaked to the press have revealed new measures will be imposed on Melburnians, as the city looks to reopen amid a sharp drop in coronavirus cases with five new cases reported on Thursday.
The Herald Sun reports that measures will include workplace bubbles, staggering shifts, lunch breaks outside and a carpooling ban.
Physical distancing will need to continue between workers and customers to ensure they are 1.5m apart at all times and face masks will need to be worn at all times.
Workplace bubbles mean that only certain groups of employees would work together. There would be no overlap during shift changes. Businesses must also limit or cease employees working across multiple locations.
Retail stores may be open on 2 November.
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Lucas Restaurants CEO Chris Lucas said he would welcome the changes being brought forward as small businesses are ready to reopen.
“We need a change of tact here,” he told the Today show. “We need to be mature and sensible and deal with the fact that this virus isn’t going anywhere. We need to have our sensible COVID plans, which we do have in place, and we need to do like we have been doing in Queensland and NSW, which is we have been trading very successfully now for four or five months.”
Two schools have closed, five suburbs are currently on alert and an outbreak has been noted at East Preston Islamic College after a year 5 boy tested positive for COVID-19.
