LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
* Melburnians are a little closer to "COVID normal", with relaxed restrictions to begin on Monday including the freedom to travel 25km from home and enjoy unlimited time outdoors.
* Premier Daniel Andrews announced the lifting of some virus-enforced limitations after the state recorded just two new infections and no further deaths on Sunday.
* Victoria's death toll from the virus remains at 816 and the national figure is 904.
* Outdoor gatherings will also increase from five people to 10 from two households, while facilities such as skate parks, golf courses and tennis courts will reopen.
* Melburnians will be able to get a haircut, see an allied health professional, renovate their home, wash their car and bid at an auction, though a number of strict safety protocols will be in place.
* Victoria's industry groups largely skewered Mr Andrews for ongoing delays to reopening businesses in Melbourne but some welcomed having clarity on a potential November 1 restart.
* Mr Andrews also issued a stern warning that Melburnians could not have friends and family over to their house for Saturday's all-Victorian AFL grand final.
* The Victorian premier reiterated he wants no part of the travel bubble that started on Friday with New Zealand, revealing 55 Kiwis have apparently turned up in his state after landing in NSW.
* Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge insists Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton was at the meeting where authorisation was given for individuals who arrived in Sydney from New Zealand to then travel to Victoria.
* Twenty-three people who recently travelled from New Zealand to Australia have also arrived in Perth, as Western Australia recorded three new cases on Sunday.
* NSW recorded just one new locally-transmitted case of COVID-19, with a coronavirus cluster in southwest Sydney's Oran Park growing to 19. Four other cases are returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
* South Australia reported two new cases - both recently returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
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KEY DATES
* October 19 - Some restrictions in Melbourne eased.
* October 26 - Tasmania's state of emergency due to expire.
* November 1 - Queensland border reopened to NSW visitors subject to conditions being met.
* November 2 - Regional Victoria residents allowed to travel to the Northern Territory if case numbers remain low.
* November 6 - Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry report due.
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AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 12 new cases in Australia, including five in NSW, three in WA, two in Victoria and two in SA.
* The national death toll is 904: Victoria 816, NSW 55, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states.)
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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 39,671,000
* Deaths: at least 1,109,000
* Recovered: at least 27,290,000
Data current as of 1800 AEDT October 18, taking in federal and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Australian Associated Press
