explainer

Thirty people for Christmas in Victoria and Don Jr’s diagnosis: What to know about COVID-19 today.

- With AAP. 

Victoria's compulsory face mask-wearing comes to an end. 

Victorians are breathing a welcome sigh of relief, with months of compulsory face mask-wearing coming to an end as part of a further lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. It follows 23 consecutive days of no new coronavirus cases or deaths. There remains only one active case across the state.

On Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced the latest round of rule changes will take effect from midnight tonight, as well as future plans for Christmas events and the return of staff to offices.

"Masks will be required inside in all settings, they will not be required while outside," he told reporters. "However you need to carry the mask with you because you will have to wear the mask outside if you can't distance."

Andrews cited queuing up for a Bunnings sausage sizzle as a crowded environment in which people must still don masks outdoors. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Other tweaks from Monday include an allowance for 15 home visitors per day, up from two, while outdoor public gatherings can have up to 50 people.

For weddings and funerals, 150 people will be able to come together to celebrate or commiserate. The same applies to cinemas, galleries and museums.

Large restaurants, cafes and pubs will be able to host up to 150 customers, while smaller venues will be limited to 50 and must use QR code record keeping.

Andrews also outlined additional moves back to normality in coming weeks, including up to 30 home visitors per day from December 13 - just in time for Christmas.

Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday the end of mandatory mask-wearing at all times for Victorians. Image: Getty. 

ADVERTISEMENT

"That is not 30 for lunch and 30 for dinner, it is 30 across the course of the day," he said.

"I know that will be a large enough number for some families and for others they will need to do some juggling."

A fourth of Victoria's workers will be permitted back in workplaces from November 30, while the rest will have to continue working from home.

Public sector workers are not part of the 25 per cent cap, creating additional space for private businesses.

The premier flagged the next set of COVID-19 rule changes - likely the last before the end of the year - would be announced on December 6.

Watch: What you're like coming out of isolation, according to your star sign. Post continues below. 


Video via Mamamia.
ADVERTISEMENT

Donald Trump says his son is doing well following COVID-19 infection.

President Donald Trump says his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. is doing "very well" in quarantine after being infected with COVID-19.

"My son Donald is doing very well. Thank you!" the president tweeted on Saturday, the day after the disclosure that the 42-year-old had become one of the nearly 12 million Americans infected with the virus.

ADVERTISEMENT

More than 250,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus, the highest death toll of any country.

Donald Trump Jr. learned of his positive test result earlier this week and has had no symptoms, he said in a video on his Instagram. He said he had been passing the time by cleaning his guns. 

“By the way, if you have any good Netflix recommendations, anything as it relates to movies or any good ebooks since I can’t go out and buy a book, give me your thoughts because I may have a couple days of solo time and there’s only so many guns I can clean before that gets boring,” Trump Jr. said. 

President Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron have all recovered from their coronavirus infections in October.

Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive for the coronavirus in July.

NSW to lift Victorian border checkpoint. 

NSW's three-month border checkpoint operation with Victoria will come to an end from midnight tonight, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian championing her state as the only Australian territory "which welcomes everyone".

The border patrol at Albury will end at midnight Sunday, Ms Berejiklian confirmed.

"All Australians are welcomed in NSW, all New Zealanders are welcome to NSW without quarantine," she told reporters from nearby the checkpoint on Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The border patrol, staffed by police and military, was established in response to Victoria's deadly second wave of COVID-19 but as the southern state overcomes the virus, the border will operate freely.

Berejiklian admitted the border operation had been expensive.

"It has cost several millions of dollars if you add up all the costs but you can't put a price on community safety," she said.

More than five million cars and 500,000 heavy vehicles passed through the checkpoint during its operation.

NSW reported 11 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, all of them already in quarantine. There were no cases of community transmission of the virus for a 15th consecutive day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ms Berejiklian again pressured other states to open borders and do more to help overcome the impacts of coronavirus.

"Every week NSW welcomes back more Australians than all the other states combined," she said.

"Victoria has been out of action. The other states simply aren't doing their fair share."

G20 urged to work together to fight virus.

Leaders from the Group of 20 countries are urging more co-ordinated international action in the fight against COVID-19, recalling the pivotal role the group played 12 years ago during the global financial crisis.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the virtual G20 Leaders' Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday and will attend again later on Sunday.

Morrison, himself in isolation in The Lodge after his visit to Japan, told the summit G20 had an important role to provide hope as they work to bring the world out of the pandemic and global recession.

He noted Australia's response had been relatively successful both in suppressing the health impact of the virus and cushioning the economic impacts through unprecedented fiscal and monetary support.

Donald Trump tweeted after the meeting that "Covid is running wild all over the World," which prompted many to respond, "Not in Australia or New Zealand". 

ADVERTISEMENT

There was some optimism about vaccines given the encouraging results of some candidates but leaders said a vaccine and treatment had to be safe, affordable and available to all, especially in developing countries, saying 'no one is safe until we are all safe'.

There was also a call for greater pandemic preparedness and early warning systems as the next pandemic could be more contagious and could strike at any time.

The World Health Organisation's work was seen as critical in this regard and needed to be supported.

Feature image: Getty.


Sign up for the "Mamamia Daily" newsletter. Get across the stories women are talking about today.