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Victoria’s lockdown will officially be lifted from 11.59pm on 27th July 2021

• Victorians will be able to leave their homes for any reason.
• Masks required everywhere indoors and outdoors (except private residences).
• Schools will reopen on Wednesday.
• No visitors to the home for the next fortnight.
• Public gatherings will be allowed with up to 10 people.
• Hospitality, retail, beauty, personal care, entertainment venues and community facilities will open in line with density limits.
• Businesses and venues can reopen with capacity and density limits of 1 person per 4sq m.
• If you can work from home, you should work from home. Office workers will be able to return up to 25 per cent or up to 10 people, whichever is greater.
• Funerals and weddings will have a cap of 50 mourners.

More information on the easing of Restrictions can be found here
Visit the Coronavirus website for further information regarding Victoria restrictions.

Covid Safe Plans
It is mandatory for every Victorian business with on-site operations to have a COVIDSafe Plan. To ensure compliance, random spot checks are occurring throughout Victoria.
 
Your COVIDSafe Plan must demonstrate:

• your actions to help prevent the introduction of COVID-19 to your workplace
• the type of face mask or personal protective equipment (PPE) required for your workforce
• how you will prepare for, and respond to, a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 in your workplace
• how you will meet all the requirements set out by the Victorian Government. Some industries or workplaces are subject to additional industry obligations and have additional requirements of employers and employees.

Businesses must review and update their COVIDSafe Plans regularly, especially when restrictions or public health advice changes. Organisations with multiple worksites must complete a COVIDSafe Plan for each worksite.
 
Additional Industry Obligations
Horticulture operations using seasonal workers for seasonal horticultural work have additional industry obligations. They include:

• Creating workforce bubbles.
• Recording the roster of seasonal workers each day, including the work areas, work teams and breaks taken for each worker bubble.
• Providing training to seasonal workers that covers good hygiene practices and ensuring workers do not come to work when they are unwell.
• Ensuring staff have the facilities to practice good hygiene.

Operators must refer to the Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Directions for full details of their additional obligations.

Victoria's lockdown will be extended for seven days until 11.59pm on Tuesday, July 27.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the state needed "more time" to drive case numbers down and to quash its growing coronavirus outbreak.

• This means that you cannot leave your home other than for one of the five following reasons:
  • shopping for necessary goods and services 
  • care and caregiving, including medical care, or to get a COVID-19 test
  • exercise 
  • authorised work and permitted study 
  • to get a COVID-19 vaccination

You must stay within 5km of your home for shopping and exercise. This limit does not apply to work, when giving or receiving care, getting a COVID-19 vaccination or visiting an intimate partner or your single social bubble buddy.

Face masks must be worn indoors and outdoors whenever you leave your home.

Face masks do not need to be worn indoors or outdoors if you are working alone unless another person enters that indoor or outdoor space.
 

Cherry Registrations for China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan & Korea close at 5pm on Friday 16th July 2021.

• Applications are now open for the accreditation of farms and packhouses to export cherries to China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and Korea for the 2021–22 season.
• Applications must be received by 5pm AEST, Friday 16 July 2021.
• Farms and packhouses must complete the relevant application form/s through the following online systems
  • For properties intending to export cherries from mainland Australia
  • For properties intending to export cherries from Tasmania
    Note: If your property was accredited in the 2020–21 season, you must still apply for the 2021–22 season.

Visit the Department of Ag, Water and the Environment website for more information.

From 11:59 pm on Thursday, 8 July 2021, if you live in Victoria: 

• There are no restrictions on the reasons to leave home but staying COVIDSafe remains important.
• There are no limits on the distance you can travel.
• Face masks are mandatory indoors unless an exception applies, or you are:
  • at home
  • at work, if a member of the public isn’t present and you are in an area that members of the public can’t normally access (such as an office space or a factory)
  • a staff member at a school, childcare or early childhood service, and a member of the public isn’t present (apart from at reception, where masks are always required)
  • a student at school
• Face masks are recommended outdoors where you cannot maintain 1.5 metres from others.
• If you have any symptoms, no matter how mild, you should get tested for COVID-19.
• Check-in everywhere you visit using https://service.vic.gov.au/check-in">the Service Victoria QR code app, no matter how long you spend at that location.

Visit the Coronavirus website for further information regarding Victoria restrictions.

The cherry production in many countries has been hampered by poor weather conditions, with Spain being battered by heavy rains and pollination being affected by winds in North America. Other countries, however, have seen record productions, with South Africa experiencing its largest production of cherries ever. In Australia, Tasmanian cherry exports have risen by 40% this season.

Read more of this Fresh Plaza article.