Overview
Since Friday, September 17, Melburnians have been able to venture ten kilometres from home under the city's current lockdown, doubling the five-kilometre rule that had been in place since the beginning of August. That change only happened just over a week ago, when 70 percent of eligible Victorians had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But, when the state hits the 80-percent single-jabbed threshold, the travel radius is being amended again as per the new roadmap out of lockdown — so you'll soon be able to head 15 kilometres away from your house instead.
Shopping for essentials? Exercising? Going outside for social interaction with your mates? From 11.59pm on Tuesday, September 28, you'll have another five kilometres to play with. That covers when you're moseying out to meet with someone you don't live with for a picnic, a walk or some other outdoor activity — including, in another just-announced change, 'contactless' pastimes such as golf and tennis. Or, if you and your friends are fully vaxxed with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, then up to five adults from two households, plus their dependents, are allowed to gather outdoors.
So, if you're currently scrambling to find quick ways to map out your 15-kilometre zone, that's completely understandable. While you're probably quite familiar with the five-kilometre and ten-kilometre patches of land surrounding your house thanks to more than a few lockdowns over the past 18 months or so, there are a few easy ways to check out your household's government-approved travel radius now that you have more room to venture. But none have proved quite as popular as KM From Home — a website that originally launched in Ireland back in March, when that country introduced its own travel restrictions — and was jumped on by Melburnians back in August 2020.
The online map is free and easy to use — simply centre it to your address, select a 15-kilometre radius and you'll see a big red or blue bubble encompassing the zone you're free to travel in under the Victorian Government's new rules.
You'll find other radius apps out there as well, including the likes of Map Developers and The Age's tool.
Alternatively, if you've got a Garmin watch, you can download this range warning and it'll alert you when you're closing in on a certain distance from your run's starting point.
Want to check a specific cafe or shopping centre to see if it falls in your 15-kilometre zone? There's a function on the Google Maps app that allows you to measure a distance as the crow flies. On desktop, simply right click on a location on the map, select 'measure distance' and then click anywhere else on the map and it'll show you exactly how far the address is from your starting point.
Under the existing rules, you can head out to exercise or for outdoor social gatherings for a maximum of four hours per day. That time limit isn't changing — but, from Tuesday, September 28, it can be done within 15 kilometres of your home.
You can leave your bubble for permitted work, or if you're shopping for essentials and there are no shops in your radius.
Lockdown rules in metropolitan Melbourne will ease slightly from 11.59pm on Tuesday, September 28, with exercising, shopping for essentials and outdoor gatherings within 15 kilometres of your house permitted from that point. For more information about the rules, head to the Victorian Department of Health website.
Images: Km From Home