Residents in Moorabool and Golden Plains shires have been restricted from visiting private homes in an attempt to stop family-to-family coronavirus transmission.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The measure, which came into effect on Thursday night, will also affect residents in Greater Geelong, Colac-Otway, Surf Coast, and Queenscliff local government areas.
On Thursday, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services noted Moorabool Shire remained steady with 12 actives cases, as did Golden Plains on eight.
THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
- No new COVID-19 cases in Ballarat, but Bendigo and Geelong surge
- 'We don't want to end up like venues in Sydney': Businesses urged to help keep all of us safe
- 'An easy thing to do': Experts urge residents to mask up now
- Masks will be mandatory from 11.59pm Sunday, here's what you need to know about the mask regulations
- Rush on for DIY supplies as mask wearing becomes mandatory in Ballarat
In Geelong, active cases jumped from 44 to 59 in just 24 hours, while an ongoing outbreak in Colac has reached 76 active cases.
As well as announcing mandatory wearing of masks or face coverings in public from Sunday night, Premier Daniel Andrews did not rule out further restrictions.
"You won't be able to have anyone in your home, so no guests, and you can't be a guest," he said.
"That's principally because we've got evidence of transmission in those domestic environments, where people are perhaps letting their guard down.
"That's where the problem is, that's where the action we'll step in is.
"That's off the advice of the Chief Health Officer, and we've moved pretty quickly in relation to bringing that no visitor policy in - we didn't want to leave it to the weekend, it might well have encouraged people to have large gatherings they don't really need to have."
Intimate partners will still be allowed to visit each other, as well people with shared custody of children, while caregiving and other services, like plumbing, will be able to continue but with masks.
It's understood the extra restrictions will be enforced until at least August 19, when the state government will review the stage three lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.
Moorabool Shire mayor David Edwards said phones had been ringing steadily from people wanting more information since the announcement.
He encouraged the community to be "proactive" and follow the rules.
"Don't just rely on the minimum requirements put in by the government, if there's additional measures you can take to keep your community safe, then take them," he said.
"(The announcement has) caused a bit of confusion - but I accept the premier's explanation that people are more likely not to social distance in the home, whereas in restaurants, there's measures in place to force social distancing."
He added people who live in Moorabool but work in Melbourne should take extra care.
"If you have to travel into metropolitan Melbourne for work, make sure you do the right thing, make sure you absolutely stay away from everyone you can, social distance," he said.
"Do everything in your power to make sure you don't bring the virus back to your community.
"Wear a mask, it can only do good - please don't break the rules and have visitors.
Golden Plains Shire mayor Owen Sharkey said his community was mindful of what was happening in Colac and Geelong.
IN THE NEWS
"It does seem like there are small numbers of people letting down everyone doing the right thing," he said.
"A lot of our community are lucky enough to be social distancing at the best of times, but now is the time we have to become compliant - a lot of this is common sense, we've got to be doing the right thing, but sadly it's just those few people who don't have that common sense who are letting us down.
"Let's be over-cautious rather than under-cautious."
More information is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website.
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.