Rural Councils Victoria is calling on the State Government to take into account the reality in rural areas and to immediately begin easing stage 3 lockdowns in rural communities where COVID-19 is not circulating.
Rural Councils Victoria Chair Cr Mary-Ann Brown said:
“More nuance is needed.
“We are asking the government to have a response that is proportionate to the risk and is guided by the data.
“The data shows us that large swathes of rural and regional Victoria have no recorded cases of COVID-19.
“It is imperative that the government starts to see regional Victoria for what it is: a very large and diverse series of rural and regional areas.
“In rural and regional Victoria one size cannot fit all because of the sheer size of the state. It is more than 1,000 kilometres from Mildura to Mallacoota.
“Rural and regional Victoria isn’t just Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat.”
“We understand that the state government wants to keep everyone safe but we also need the government to understand that large areas of rural and regional Victoria have no COVID-19 cases and can safely get back to work, to school and to a more normal-like existence with little or no danger.
“There needs to be more nuance in the government’s approach to stage 3 lockdown in rural and regional Victoria.
“In rural and regional council areas that have not had a COVID 19 case for more than 14 days, restrictions should be eased to safely allow people to get back to work, school and their lives.”
