With Victorian COVID-19 numbers considered stable enough for the state to reopen, attention now turns to the NSW border.
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But it appears the border will be opened further before it is removed entirely.
After announcing Melbourne would join regional Victoria under step three of the roadmap to reopening, Daniel Andrews said he would talk to the NSW Premier about the border.
"I think we will get regional Victoria open to NSW and to SA as soon as we can, and that's likely to occur before necessarily Melbourne opens up to those states," he said.
Mr Andrews stated that the removal of checkpoints separating Melbourne and regional Victoria and the travel limit on Melburnians would be lifted on November 8, "barring a series of days where we have very high case numbers".
Albury MP Justin Clancy indicated a staged reopening of the state border as opposed to it being lifted entirely.
"My conversations with the Premier and Health Minister last week were certainly about raising the border and we talked about potentially a staged lifting of the border ... I'll be pushing for that," he said.
"Certainly, my conversations have been around how and when we go about lifting the handbrake.
"I spoke to the Premier about the real importance of Christmas, that's approaching fairly quickly."
Mr Clancy said the Premier wanted to assess Victoria's capacity to respond to outbreaks if and when they occur.
"With the opening of the internal border, I can't say how that might impact on decision-making, at least at this stage," he said.
"We still know we have got the challenge of COVID and we encourage and thank our community for continuing to be COVID-safe."
Earlier:
Metropolitan Melbourne is reopening again from midnight tomorrow and the city-regional internal border will go on November 8.
Premier Daniel Andrews said all retail would be reopening in Melbourne from 11.59pm tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27.
"With zero cases and so much testing ... we're able to say that now is the time to open up," he said.
"Now is the time to congratulate every single Victorian for staying the course.
"The state will be one again."
The four reasons for leaving home will be removed.
On November 8, the 25km travel limit will be removed for city residents and in line with that, the checkpoints will be scrapped - if there is no jump in cases.
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A clearly emotional Premier flagged today was the first day since June 9 that Victoria had zero cases.
"Why it's emotional day is people have given a lot," he said.
"It belongs to every single Victorian who has stayed the course."
Mr Andrews said he would not be lifting the travel restrictions and checkpoints in time for the Melbourne Cup long weekend.
"We're simply waiting to see how this first stage of opening goes, to see if we get increased cases," he said.
"Time is your friend here. Use that extra almost 14 days ... to see exactly what the conditions will be like."
The work from home advice remains in place in Victoria with potential changes to be announced no November 8.
Mr Andrews indicated the mask rules would be in effect for some time yet.
"We're not quite sure how long ... it may be the settings changed, potentially," he said.
Mr Andrews expects to speak with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this week about borders, after an agreement at National Cabinet on Friday for states to be open by Christmas.
"I think we will get regional Victoria open to NSW and to SA as soon as we can, and that's likely to occur before necessarily Melbourne opens up to those states," he said.
"The one thing we could do, and we have, is get our numbers down."