The state of play has changed again for live music venues but there’s still going to be a wait before fully-fledged gigs can occur again.
Victoria’s entertainment venues and cultural establishments will now be able to host more patrons as Premier Daniel Andrews just announced a further easing of restrictions.
From now and as part of the Last Step in Victoria’s roadmap towards a ‘COVID normal’, indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, smaller bandrooms and galleries, will be allowed a maximum of 150 punters per space, subject to the density quotient of one person per four square metres. For an indoor space that also has an outdoor area, a one person per two square metre restriction must be adhered to for that outdoor space.
For indoor venues with a capacity of more than 600 people – such as the NGV, museums and large theatres – they will be able to operate at a maximum of 25 per cent capacity, subject to the same density quotient requirements explained above.
Prior to this, any indoor entertainment venue, no matter the size, was only able to operate at a maximum of 20 people per space. Keep in mind that 1.5m physical distancing is still a requirement for any activities whether indoor or out.
While this may seem like another positive step forward for live music venues as they continue their path back to normality, the prospect of hosting fully-fledged, un-socially distanced gigs is still out of reach.
The only situation where the concept of a packed bandroom of gig-goers could be entertained is when we’ve reached a ‘COVID normal’.
Now, there’s the very real possibility that we could reach a ‘COVID normal’ by Christmas. Initially, it was said that we’d have to reach a situation where there hasn’t been a new case for 28 days (state-wide), no active cases (state-wide) and no outbreaks of concern in other states or territories.
As of Monday November 23, Victoria was on a streak of 24 days of no new cases of COVID-19 and had only one active case in the state. As per the original ‘COVID normal’ guidelines, this would mean that we could technically move to a ‘COVID normal’ by Friday November 27 if the single person with the virus had recovered, and the government made an optimistic assessment of the situation outside of Victoria.
But those directives have since changed, and even in the situation that we do reach a ‘COVID normal’, who’s to say Premier Andrews will remove the perpetual 1.5m physical distancing requirement that continues to be in play.
We’ve come so far but there’s still going to be a wait before fully-fledged gigs can occur again.
Don’t worry, Melburnians, we’ll get there eventually.
To find out more about the further easing of restrictions that occurred as of Monday November 23, head here.
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