Ballarat leaders react to Melbourne's COVID-19 restrictions

The restrictions come after a COVID-19 cluster in Melbourne's north grew to nine cases yesterday with masks now mandatory indoors throughout the city and gathering restrictions heightened.

Until at least June 4, in-home gatherings will now be limited to five people while public gatherings will be limited to 30 people.

No changes have been made to the opening or density limits of schools, workplaces, shops, restaurants and pubs.

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While the restrictions only apply in metropolitan Melbourne, any Melburnian travelling to regional Victoria will have to continue to adhere to the new rules.

Meanwhile, residents of Ballarat and regional Victoria will only have to follow the Melbourne rules while in the city and not when they return home.

However, the state government said if someone from regional Victoria feels unwell, they will need to get tested and isolate while waiting for their results.

With little information available regarding the effect of restrictions on regional Victoria immediately after the announcement, some Ballarat businesses expressed their frustration and confusion.

Commerce Ballarat chief executive Jodie Gillett said while it was positive regional Victoria was largely unaffected, businesses needed more clarity on restrictions.

"Again, we say to the government, you must have the details available when you make an announcement around restrictions," she said.

"We've been living in the COVID world now for over 12 months, scenario planning needs to be done prior to situations like this occurring. The announcement created quite a lot of confusion with the limit of 30 for public gatherings.

"Our understanding is that doesn't apply to workplaces or events. We've had one event that's been cancelled this weekend and we can't afford for that to happen."

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City of Ballarat Mayor Daniel Moloney said it was a good sign Ballarat could carry on pretty much as normal.

"Restrictions anywhere in the state are not great but they are what they are and I think, as Victorians, we are getting pretty good at adapting to whatever's thrown at us and, for now, the restrictions appear to be Melbourne-based only," he said.

"At this stage, even though there is every likelihood those restrictions will continue to change throughout the week, it's good that we can continue on in Ballarat without much change."

Cr Moloney said he was glad to see the state government listen to the feedback from regional Victoria following February's snap lockdown.

"We were in a position in February where there was the snap lockdown that was statewide and at the time we asked for a more targeted approach so that the restrictions were focused on the geographic area of concern," he said.

"We did ask for a more targeted approach during the the February lockdown. This appears to be just that at this stage which is great, but of course, the past year has shown us that things can change pretty rapidly so it's really important that people keep on checking for the the most recent updates."

The Melbourne cluster grew to nine after four new cases were confirmed yesterday, all family contacts of a man in his 60s, who was the fifth person in Melbourne's northern suburbs to test positive.

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