The Victorian Government has confirmed Mitchell Shire will exit lockdown at 11:59pm tonight on Wednesday 13 October. With these changes, Mitchell Shire will move to the same COVIDSafe settings as the rest of regional Victoria, with no reasons required to leave the home and no limit on travel throughout regional Victoria. Limited outdoor community sports training will also resume.
From 11:59pm tonight, VSBL club Mitchell Majors can return to training with the minimum number required to train. Spectators are prohibited except one parent permitted to supervise children. All players must complete the return to training registration for regional Victoria, and the club must maintain an attendance register and COVID-19 restriction compliance documentation.
This ability to train only applies to the Ballarat Royals, Geelong Baycats, and Mitchell Majors as clubs participating in the 2021/22 VSBL season, currently scheduled to start on 13 November 2021 subject to Victorian Government restrictions and meeting the state’s vaccination targets.
As a reminder, the lockdown restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and Mildura Rural City Council include:
- Six reasons to leave home:
- shopping for necessary goods and services (within 15km radius of home)
- four hours of exercise, including limited outdoor personal training or contactless recreation at outdoor facilities, such as boating, tennis or golf (within 15km radius of home)
- caregiving/compassionate/medical reasons
- authorised work or permitted education – with valid permit only
- getting the coronavirus vaccine
- outdoor social interaction (picnic, walk, or other outdoor activity) with another person not from your household. Up to five adults (plus dependents) from two households may gather outdoors if all adults are fully vaccinated.
- No public or private gatherings other than for permitted outdoor social interaction
- No one-on-one or small group baseball coaching – this does not count as personal training
- No community sport
- Masks must be worn both indoors and outdoors unless an exemption applies
- Daily curfew from 9pm – 5am (metropolitan Melbourne only)
Premier Daniel Andrews is set to provide an update in the coming days as Victoria progresses toward its vaccination targets of 70 and 80 percent fully vaccinated. Baseball Victoria will continue to provide updates when the further easing of restrictions is confirmed.
For the latest COVID news from the Victorian Government, click HERE.
“We are pleased to see lockdown lifting in Mitchell Shire as we continue to prepare for the 2021/22 VSBL season,” Baseball Victoria Interim CEO Gemma Scales said. “We look forward to getting back on the field and enjoying a safe and successful summer season with our Victorian baseball community.”
To track Victoria’s progress toward vaccination targets and view COVID resources, click HERE.
COVID-19 vaccines are currently available for all Victorians aged 12 years and over. Getting vaccinated helps protect you from getting sick with COVID-19. The vaccines being used in Australia are safe, free, and very effective at preventing serious illness and loss of life from COVID-19.
Click HERE to book your vaccine appointment.
It remains very important that Victorians monitor for symptoms, get tested, and get vaccinated when eligible.
To stop the spread, everyone should check this list of exposure sites and isolate, monitor for symptoms, and get tested as directed.
If you have been to an exposure site, are a close contact of a confirmed case, or exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19 – such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills or sweats, or change in sense of smell or taste – get a test immediately. Find out where to get tested HERE.
While Victoria works to get more people vaccinated, you can stay safe by washing your hands regularly, wearing a face mask, coughing and sneezing into your elbow, and keeping at least 1.5 metres from others. If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, you must get tested and stay home.
Click HERE to view our frequently asked questions.
Click HERE to view all COVID resources, including the Baseball Victoria Return to Play COVIDSafe Plan.
We encourage our members to stay connected and prioritise their mental health. Please view mental health resources on our website HERE, including information from Beyond Blue, Headspace, Kids Helpline, Lifeline and R U OK?
To view more COVID-19 resources from the Victorian Government, click HERE.