And boy, do we need the optimism.

Large parts of regional Victoria have avoided major coronavirus outbreaks since a state of emergency was declared back in March.

After six months of sapping restrictions and government bungling, we are ready for kids to go back to school, businesses to open and individuals being free to leave their homes.

It is clear though that a return to normal is a long way off, if at all.

If regional Victoria does jump to step three on the recovery roadmap, there will be no restrictions on reasons to leave home.

We will be allowed to have outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, so a barbecue to watch the footy finals might become the most popular activity this spring.

But the prospect of dining out at your favourite restaurant or pub won't be on the cards. Restaurants will only be permitted to serve food at outdoor tables and of course, take-aways.

This is good news for those operators with outdoor dining areas but there are many without such areas. Like so many, these operators are fighting for survival.

Mr Andrews is right in thinking we can't open up too fast and risk a third wave of the virus across the state.

But his roadmap is complicated. Yes, tackling the virus spread is complicated, but in a week when new statistics were released revealing suicide rates in rural and regional areas were significantly higher than in metropolitan areas, we need light at the end of the tunnel.

We have already achieved one of the triggers for restrictions to ease - the rolling 14-day average number of new cases in regional areas below five. But the second is harder to achieve, no mystery source cases.

We need to do the right thing again this weekend so we tick that box. We are close, so close. Hang in there.