There will also be greater onus on both businesses and individuals to ensure COVID-safe guidelines are being followed - and residents are being urged to take personal responsibility at all times.

Subject to test results reviewed today (Thursday), regional Victoria will once again operate on separate rules from metropolitan Melbourne.

The easing of limitations was broadly welcomed by retail workers, whose workplaces will now be the subject of mandatory QR check-ins no matter how short a customer's visit. It is a tightening of a rule that used to allow people to go without checking in if their shopping lasted less than 15 minutes.

It was a distinctly less positive tale for other sectors - with gyms still unable to open, and the hard-hit hospitality sector facing strict number limits at their venues despite the greater freedom of movement.

They will also have the added responsibility of checking IDs of anyone who comes to their venues, a scenario some believe will add to the burden of its already stretched workers.

For James Morcombe, the owner of the Bunch of Grapes on Pleasant Street in Ballarat Central, the ability to have people at venues is a step up from the conditions of the past week - but it is likely to be marginal.

He said he was happy he was likely to be able to give more shifts to casual staff but added: "Fifty in a venue doesn't allow too much."

As for checking IDs of people coming in, Mr Morcombe said: "If it's what we have to do, we have to do it. But I have been told people can refuse ID for personal reasons, which then raises another question mark."

"There's going to be more pressure on the staff, that's for sure."

David Canny, owner of the Red Lion Hotel in Main Road, and president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Hotels Association, also said the patrons limit will hurt. "It's not a viable number for most hotels. We're really calling on the federal government to support these businesses.

"We're not playing politics on this. When a state has a cyclone or a drought, that state receives federal government assistance. This is our cyclone in Victoria. We need them to step in to help these businesses and people.

"We're going to crawl out of this. It's not the way to get people back to work. We want to trade our way back to prosperity. This a real kick. We're way behind again, we're way behind the rest of the country."

Owner of MaxiFoods supermarket Brendan Blake said he welcomed the clarity of the guideline for mandatory QR check ins.

"We have no issue asking people to scan the code," he said. "The QR code system has not been supported by the general public the way government would like."

Other concerns have been raised in recent weeks over the level of compliance in using the QR system in Victoria compared to other states, which Michael Poulton, the CEO of the Committee for Ballarat, wants to address.

He urged all residents to use the QR codes, and said the lighter restrictions in Ballarat would give "our regional community the chance to quickly recover from this latest lockdown."

Another owner of a country town supermarket, who did not wish to be identified, said: "I will be pushing it [QR codes] a bit more, but many of our customers are elderly and probably don't even have phones.

"If you get someone who's 93 to put their name and phone number on a piece of paper, it's not easy either. It's not really my job to police it."

Jodie Gillett, the CEO of Commerce Ballarat said she was "thrilled" more of the retail sector could open up, but stressed the difficulties elsewhere, citing hospitality, day spas and a go-karting business as among those facing huge pressures.

She said one business had described the current climate as "death by 1,000 cuts." Ms Gillett also echoed previous calls for federal government support akin to the old JobKeeper scheme. "My concern is now we are going to see some good businesses go," she said.

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