"It is unacceptable that families anywhere in our state can, just because they want this to be over, pretend that it is," Andrews said on Saturday, referring to Victoria's situation of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China late last year.
The owners of cafes, restaurants, and pubs were due to increase patronage of their businesses to 50 at one time on Monday, up from 20 currently. This is now delayed until July 12 as Andrews backtracks and puts up restrictions as fast as he can to hold back a second wave of the virus spreading across his state.
From midnight on Sunday night, household gatherings will also be reduced to five people. Outdoor gatherings will be restricted to 10.
Andrew's decision comes two weeks after thousands gathered in Melbourne for protests in support of the leftist Black Lives Matter movement.
The CCP virus has claimed 102 Australian lives and over 900,000 Australian jobs.
Australia's deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly predicted on March 15 that the CCP virus will claim the lives of 1 percent of the population. This did not happen.
Instead, 13 weeks later, the country has been on the road to recovery, following a three-step plan laid out by the national cabinet that would see life returning almost to normal by about mid-July.
The plan was that states and territories would step through the stages at their own pace, but now Victoria is left trailing behind.
"The vast majority of Victorians have been doing the right thing. But this is a wake-up call," Andrews said in a statement published on Saturday, June 20. "And the only thing between us and a second wave is what we do next."
