Daniel Andrews was still speaking at his press conference when the phones started ringing at the Grand Hotel in Warrandyte, in Melbourne's outer north-east.
"I've taken four phone calls [for bookings] while I was watching it," pub manager Peter Appleby said.
During that much-anticipated press conference, the Premier announced that pubs, restaurants and cafes could reopen from Wednesday.
It means Mr Appleby can finally get back to serving beers after his pub, a local gathering place, stood shut for months.
"To stand behind the bar and pull a beer and chat to our loyal regulars who have supported us through these last seven months, I can't wait — it is just going to be a special day," he said.
"The town will be right behind us."
But he wished businesses had been given more notice.
"A 30-odd hour turnaround time to get stock delivered and the place cleaned and ready to go that is a bit disappointing — it is so soon," he said.
"The next 30 hours is going to be just crazy."
And there will be limits on how many patrons he can host at once. All venues in Melbourne will be subject to a 20-person cap indoors, with no more than 10 people in a single indoor space, and no more than one person for every 4 square metres.
Before the pandemic, Mr Appleby's pub was able to host 700 people inside.
"Twenty [people indoors] is not viable for us, but we will open because it is just a week until indoor capacity moves to 40 people," he said.
Outdoors, venues will be restricted to one person per 2 square metres, with a maximum of 50 patrons.
Mr Appleby is hoping the State Government moves to a straight density rule, rather than a hard cap on numbers, to allow bigger venues to seat more people with social distancing.
'At this stage we are pretty happy to take anything'
Hawthorn cafe owner Dave Makin said the Premier's announcement was exciting for his staff.
"I've had a number of calls from our staff in the last hour eagerly trying to understand if we are going to be able to make Wednesday morning or not," he said.
He said it was unlikely his business, Axil Coffee Roasters, would reopen then because of the tight timeframe.
It's instead aiming for a Thursday reopening.
Mr Makin also has concerns about the capacity limits.
"We have basically been closed since the middle of March so we are excited to be reopening, but the 20 [person limit] is deceptive as it is two spaces of 10 people, maximum, per space," he said.
"As you know, your local cafe like us, we have one space, so we have 10 seats only."
He said that limit wouldn't be financially viable on a wet day when outdoor seating wasn't possible.
"But at this stage we are pretty happy to take anything in hospitality."
'It's been a long time coming' says relieved retailer
Tiffany Zerafa runs Sticky Fingers Children's Boutique at Niddrie, in Melbourne's outer north-west.
Her business has been operating with click-and-collect sales, but that has been just a small fraction of her usual trade.
"The financial stress has been huge and it's going to take a long time before business is back on track," she said.
It's not the only stress Ms Zerafa and her staff have been dealing with.
"I've got three staff at the moment and it’s hit us all pretty hard," she said.
"We're all mums, we've all got children, we've all been juggling, trying to keep the click and collect with our locals over the phone, as well as have most of our children at home."
Now she just wants to get back to business.
"Now that we have some routine happening with kids back at school and normal shop hours, we can just get on with living again."
State's reunification 'can't come quick enough'
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said there was a "sense of optimism" in the business community after the announcement.
He said the fact the so-called "ring of steel" separating Melbourne and regional Victoria would be dismantled in two weeks was critical to help inject much-needed cash into regional economies.
"The news that we will become one Victoria again from 8 November will give comfort to so many Victorians and that date can't come quick enough," he said.
Mr Guerra said the State Government needed to trust businesses to operate in a COVID-safe way, just as the public trusted the Government's health system to respond to outbreaks.
Big retailers said their sector was ready to operate in a COVID-safe way, with careful physical distancing and rigorous cleaning protocols.
The Large Format Retailers Association, which represents stores like Harvey Norman, Bunnings and Spotlight, said many stores were already set up on a scale that would make social distancing straightforward, while other modes of purchasing adopted during the lockdown were likely to stay an option.
Tourism industry breathes a sigh of relief
The Victorian Tourism Industry Council, which had been urging the Government to lay down a clear date for the removal of the border between Melbourne and regional Victoria for weeks, said Monday's announcement was a "watershed moment".
CEO Felicia Mariani said the news that the "ring of steel" and 25-kilometre radius rule would end from November 9 was what her industry had waited months to hear.
"The state's tourism industry is breathing a sigh of relief today, now that we have a clear date for when the people of greater Melbourne will be free to travel to regional Victoria," she said.
"Bringing Melbourne back to life is an essential ingredient in the recipe to getting our state on the pathway to a COVID-normal future.
"Today, the Victorian Government has taken those first steps that are so desperately needed to allow us to start the pathway to recovery."
