COVID-19 update: new restrictions announced

ANOTHER stage of prohibited activities and venues has been revealed to limit social contact in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following yesterday’s meeting of the National Cabinet, which stretched late into the evening, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the following indoor and outdoor events and activities would be restricted, as of midnight tonight:

• Food courts (unless it is take-away or delivery)
• Auction houses
• Real estate auctions and open house inspections (private appointments for inspections are allowed)
• Outdoor and indoor markets, on a state-by-state basis (food markets can still operate)
• Hairdressers and barber shops can operate, but only for 30-minute appointments and under the “one person per 4 square metres” rule
• Beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, tattoo parlours
• Strip clubs, brothels and sex on premises venues
• Concert venues, theatre, arenas, auditoriums, stadiums
• Play centres (indoor and outdoor)
• Community and recreation centres (unless hosting essential voluntary or public services, such as food banks or homeless services)
• Health clubs, fitness centres, yoga, barre and spin facilities, saunas, bathhouses and wellness centres
• Indoor boot camps and personal training (outdoor boot camps and personal training is allowed for groups of no more than 10 people, with social distancing)
• Hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, campsites, caravan parks, and boarding houses on a state-by-state basis (where people live permanently in caravan parks or are staying in caravan parks as interim abodes where their primary residence is not available, they may continue to do so)
• Weddings are only allowed with a maximum attendance of no more than 5 people and under the “one person per 4 square metres” rule
• Funerals are only allowed by a maximum of no more than 10 people and under the “one person per 4 square metres” rule.

Shopping centres remain open for now.

The Federal government has also enacted a ban on Australians travelling overseas.

Mr Morrison said the overall rule was to “stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary that you go out”.

“Going out for the basics, going out for exercise, perhaps with your partner or family members, provided it’s a small group – that’s fine, but (not) going outside and going out and participating more broadly in the community, unless you’re shopping for basics or there are medical needs or you’re providing care or support to another individual in another place, going to work and where you cannot work from home,” Mr Morrison said.

He said visits to the home should be “kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests.”

“We don’t want to be overly specific about that. We want Australians to exercise their common sense. So that means barbecues of lots of friends or even family, extended family coming together to celebrate one year old birthday parties and all these sorts of things, we can’t do those things now.”