VICTORIA Police will deploy a significant amount of resources to enforce health directions after Ballarat was placed in a seven-day localised lockdown.
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A Victoria Police spokesperson said about 1400 police and PSOs dedicated to coronavirus-related enforcement have already been deployed across the state
"This forms part of the changes we are making to our service delivery model to ensure we have more officers out on the road patrolling, and will stop unnecessary face-to-face contacts and risk of transmission in line with the Chief Health Officer's guidelines," the spokesperson said.
"Police patrols will monitor public areas where people congregate in contravention of CHO restrictions and will enforce deliberate, blatant and obvious breaches of the CHO directions and will use discretion when appropriate."
This comes after 'Operation Guardian' saw police ramp up their presence on V/Line and public transport in an effort to stop unnecessary travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria.
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Under the new localised restrictions, Ballarat will be placed under similar rules to Melbourne, with the five reasons to leave home in force.
However no curfew has been announced.
Travel from regional Victoria to either Ballarat or Melbourne can only occur for the five permitted reasons; authorised work or education, visiting an intimate partner, care or compassionate reasons and access to good or services within five kilometres of your home.
Making the announcement, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was important for nearby local government areas, such as Horsham, to stay vigilant, and get tested and vaccinated.
"We know this will be disappointing for the Ballarat community, but we'd rather get on top of these cases open up again as quickly as possible, than let cases get out of control in the area," he said.
"It's so important that people in these LGAs continue to check for exposure sites near them, get tested if they have any symptoms at all and most important - get vaccinated if you haven't already."
For up-to-date information on COVID-19 restrictions, visit https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covidsafe-settings.
As restrictions are still in place across the weekend, regional Victoria awaits an announcement which is tipped to come on Sunday about easing of restrictions further for the region.
Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday, a road map was in the works and would be released to be used as a guide to further easing of restrictions as vaccination rates increase.
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