Boating, fishing hit as Victoria re-enters COVID-19 lockdown
Seven-day statewide lockdown puts on-water fun off the agenda for almost all of Victoria’s residentsHere we go again. Boating and fishing will once again be off limits for almost all of Victoria’s population for the next week as the state enters its fourth COVID-19 lockdown.
The seven-day circuit-breaker lockdown, which starts tomorrow, limits all Victorian residents to a maximum of two hours of exercise a day within 5km of their home.
That will rule out boating for almost all Victorians not lucky enough to live within a short driving distance of a boat ramp.
Anyone who does head out on the water can only do so with one other person, or only with people who live under the same roof.
Unlike earlier lockdowns, it appears that this time around people will be able to go fishing as a form of exercise, but again only if the place they drop a line is within 5km of their home, and only once a day for a maximum of two hours.
People using kayaks and stand-up paddleboards for exercise will also be able to launch, keeping in mind the travel and time limitations.
The restrictions come into effect from midnight tonight and do not lift until June 4.
If anyone has a boat booked in for a service, it will have to wait. However, the rules state that if someone can’t work from home – including mechanical services – they can travel to and from work, so boats already in service centres can have work performed on them.
Under the rules, delivery drivers can still work, so if you are waiting for a part for your boat it should still get to its destination.
Retail changes
What about bait? The Victorian Government has closed all retail business for the week with only essential services such as petrol stations, supermarkets, food stores and pharmacies allowed to remain open.
However, businesses can remain open only if they offer click-and-collect services. Some of the larger fishing gear retailers do offer it for bait.
The Victorian Government introduced the new lockdown in an effort to curb a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that is highly contagious.
Victoria overnight recorded 12 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, taking the total number of people infected with the virus in the state up to 34.
Boaters and fishers in the state have been highly critical of earlier lockdowns that effectively have banned all on-water activities, even though they’re either solitary or involve other household members, making them an extremely low risk of spreading the coronavirus.
Later lockdowns eased restrictions to allow both activities.
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