24 March 2020 / COVID-19

National Cabinet Meeting - New Restrictions

The Prime Minister just made the following announcements after tonight’s national cabinet meeting:

  • States and Territories are keen to be as consistent as possible and will be trying to be uniform in their approach nationally to avoid confusion
  • From midnight tomorrow night these activities will no longer stay open / take place (these are in addition to the activities announced on Sunday) – all retail premises must display how many people can be insider under 4sqm rule:
    • Food courts (takeaway only)
    • Auction houses, open house inspections
    • Outdoor and indoor markets (unless considered an essential food supply – states / territories will define shortly)
    • Large gatherings brought together for particular organised events – states / territories again will specify local effects
    • Personal services (beauty, therapy, waxing, tanning, nail salons, tattoo parlours) - excl physio and allied health, hair dressers and barbers with strict social distancing measures)
    • Amusement parks and arcades
    • Play centres indoor and outdoor
    • Community and recreation centres, yoga, health centres
    • Bootcamps and personal training limited to maximum 10 people with strict social distancing
    • Social based sporting activities (large groups ie team sports)
    • Swimming pools
    • Galleries, museums, libraries, historic centres
    • Community facilities, clubs etc
    • Places of worship now extends to weddings (no more than 5 people) and funerals (no more than 10 people)
  • Further rules we must follow as part of social distancing measures (states and territories will police):
    • Stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go out
    • Going out for the basics and exercise in a small group in your house is ok
    • Providing care or support for others is ok
    • Going to work is ok – where you cannot work from home (strongly encouraged to do this though)
    • Visits of others to our houses should be kept to a minimum and with a very small number of guests (use common sense)
    • No more family gatherings or house parties
    • Do not go outdoors and gather in groups
  • School advice has not changed – it is still safe to send kids to school
  • Will meet with relevant teacher bodies tomorrow to work through issues
  • Schools will open after the term break
  • All jobs are essential – hence schools must stay open for kids to go to school to help job stability for parents
  • Ban on international travel (previously was a ‘Do Not Travel’) – comes into effect
  • New penalties for profiteering of large quantities of things being sold / taken overseas
  • Next National Cabinet Meeting tomorrow night to discuss other measures (including leases). Will provide another update then.