Victoria Is Closing Indoor Dance Floors Again in Response to Rising Cases
The returning 'Footloose'-style rules will apply at all hospitality and entertainment venues from 11.59pm on Wednesday, January 12.
If your new year's resolution involved dancing as often as possible, the pandemic has just delivered bad news. With Victoria's COVID-19 case numbers continuing to rise again, the state's government has just announced the return of a familiar restriction: the closing of all indoor dance floors in hospitality and entertainment venues.
The Footloose-style change was announced by Health Minister Martin Foley today, Monday, January 10, at Victoria's daily COVID-19 press conference, and will come into effect from 11.59pm on Wednesday, January 12. The only exception to the rule: indoor dance floors at weddings, although folks are asked to relocate them outdoors if possible.
Indoor hospitality and entertainment venues are still able to remain open, however — they just have to shut their dance floors. And, the current one person per two-square-metre density requirement that kicked in back on Thursday, January 6 remains in place and unchanged as well.
Victoria's mask rules are still in effect as well, with the government making masks mandatory again indoors just before Christmas. The state is also strongly recommending that people work from home if possible, as it has been since late last year as well.
Victoria currently has 161,065 active COVID-19 cases, including 34,808 new cases reported today, Monday, January 10.
For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
Top image: Jake Roden, Visit Victoria.
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