Mala McAlpin Devastating news for beauty, spa and aesthetic businesses who only reopened mere weeks ago.
From tonight, Wednesday 1 July, the Victorian government will reimpose stage three restrictions on COVID-19 hotspot areas across Melbourne, which is said to last until at least July 29 in a bid to contain an “unacceptably high” number of new cases in recent days. There will only be four acceptable reasons for people in these areas to leave their homes, including 1) Shopping for food or other essential items, 2) To provide care giving, for compassionate reasons or to seek medical treatment, 3) For exercise (outdoor exercise only, with only one other person or members of your household) or 4) Work or study, if you cannot work or study from home.
From 11:59pm on Wednesday, residents in these areas will be restricted from leaving the house (except for essential reasons):
- 3012: Brooklyn, Kingsville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray
- 3021: Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans
- 3032: Ascot Vale, Highpoint City, Maribyrnong, Travancore
- 3038: Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens
- 3042: Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie
- 3046: Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park
- 3047: Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana
- 3055: Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West
- 3060: Fawkner
- 3064: Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickleham, Roxburgh Park, Kalkallo
This comes as devastating news to salons, spas and aesthetic clinics in these areas, who reopened mere weeks ago, and will now have to close for business once again. All beauty and personal care businesses in the above hotspot areas have been ordered to close, apart from hairdressers and barbers.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the recent surge in cases was a “heartbreaking turn in the epidemic”. “That is a significant doubling rate and it was that trend and the fact that we had to turn it around that prompted me to take these actions,” he said. “These are the right public health actions and we know that they can work.” Over 230 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded since last Thursday, and yesterday was the fourteenth consecutive day of double-digit case growth in Victoria, with a continuing and concerning number of new cases associated with transmission in households and families.
Premier Daniel Andrews also requested yesterday that international flights be diverted from Melbourne for the next two weeks in order to reduce the number of travellers arriving that would need to be housed in hotel quarantine. “I haven’t got the answer from the Commonwealth yet but I’m pretty sure the answer will be yes, there will be no further flights arriving,” he said. “Today’s flights will be the last ones for a period of two weeks.”
Do you have a business in Melbourne that is forced to shut down once again? Let us know how you feel in the comments.
