City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Ben Taylor and CEO Janet Dore have called on residents to stay safe while still supporting Ballarat businesses.
Cr Taylor and Ms Dore joined forces to call on Ballarat residents to wear face masks while out in public, and to not travel out of the municipality unless absolutely necessary.
However, they both also urged people to continue to support Ballarat businesses by going to restaurants, cafes, shops and tourist attractions and applying the common sense COVID-19 safety measures of social distancing and good hand hygiene.
Cr Taylor said wearing masks in public was an added preventative step to keep Ballarat safe as COVID-19 hotspots flare up in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.
“I would also ask Ballarat residents not to travel outside the municipality unless they really have to,” Cr Taylor said.
“We have no active cases of COVID-19 in Ballarat, and haven’t had since mid-May (2020), and I would like it to stay that way.”
Ms Dore said Ballarat was now the only regional Victorian city without an active COVID-19 case after Geelong and Bendigo both recorded new cases in the past few days.
“Wearing a mask while out and about is just a common sense way of making sure we protect each other as best we can,” Ms Dore said.
“However, we do still need to support our local businesses so keep booking into your favourite café or visiting your favourite store – just remember to maintain your 1.5 metre distance from other people and keep up your good hand hygiene.
“Ballarat has done an amazing job of flattening the curve and these are just the simple and practical ways we can make sure we have no flare ups in our municipality.
“Let’s all work together to keep Ballarat safe and COVID-19 free.”
Source: City of Ballarat