Further restrictions on gatherings

AUSTRALIA heads into a further shutdown on Wednesday night with tight restrictions around anywhere people might gather in groups, as governments battle to stop the concerning spread of coronavirus.

The crackdown will lead to wider job losses as more businesses are forced to draw the shutters for what could be months.

And Australians are receiving stern warnings to keep their distance from other people, as governments appear set to start tracking the movements of people who catch the disease.

The government is sending text messages telling Australians: “stop the spread, stay 1.5m from others, follow rules on social gatherings, wash hands, stay home if sick”.

An expanded list of businesses will be forced to close their doors at midnight on Wednesday with an emphasis on stopping large gatherings as COVID-19 infections in Australia double every four days, reaching 2317 earlier in the day.

Open house inspections and auctions are banned as are personal services such as beauty therapy, waxing, tattoo parlours and massage.

Takeaway services from cafes and restaurants are still available although food courts in shopping centres will have to close seating areas.

Most community facilities will also close, including libraries, swimming pools, RSLs, galleries and community centres.

Health-related personal services, such as physiotherapy, will be allowed to keep running.

Outdoor boot camps and personal training will be limited to a maximum of 10 people per session.

Weddings will be restricted to the couple, celebrant and two witnesses only, while funerals can only have a maximum of 10 mourners.

State governments will also be policing social gatherings in public spaces – even parents grouping together at playgrounds – and in people’s houses.

Pubs, clubs, sit-in cafes and restaurants have already been closed.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy acknowledged the measures were “really draconian”.

“But if we’re going to control community transmission, we have to stop the capacity of this virus from spreading from person to person. And I have said many times, it is a long haul,” he said.

The tough restrictions led to thousands of people queuing at Centrelink offices around the country and 3.2 million logging on to its website on Tuesday.

More than 814,000 jobs could be lost by the end of June and the unemployment rate reach 1.5 million as vast swathes of the Australian economy are shut down.

Centrelink is rapidly recruiting an extra 5000 staff to deal with the influx of demand.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said while the Centrelink queues were heartbreaking, the alternative was worse.

“What we don’t want is queues for people who need a machine to help them breathe. We cannot have people queuing for intensive care beds. That will mean they will die,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to buy time … if you can stay home, you must stay home. No dinner party, no shopping trip is worth a life.”

In further job losses, Virgin Australia stood down 8000 of its 10,000-strong workforce until at least May and slashed its domestic flights by 90 per cent.

Schools are remaining open although many jurisdictions have encouraged parents to keep their children at home and do distance education if they can.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is meeting the education union to discuss how to protect vulnerable teachers.

He said it’s vital that essential workers be able to send their children to school if they needed to.

“Who is an essential worker? Someone who has a job,” he said.

The government has also used biosecurity laws to ban Australians from travelling overseas after concerns that some people weren’t heeding the “do not travel” warning slapped on the entire world.

Some exemptions will be allowed for Australians who normally live overseas, aid workers and on compassionate grounds.

LATEST NATIONAL CORONAVIRUS ACTION:

BUSINESS

* From midnight on Wednesday food courts in shopping centres will only be available for takeaway food. No sitting.

* Auction houses will shut. Auctions and open house inspections are banned.

* Outdoor and indoor markets are banned while rules around major food markets will be addressed by states and territories.

* Personal services such as beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours (but not physiotherapy) are banned.

* Hairdressers and barbers can continue but must strictly manage social distancing and restrict the amount of time a patron can be in the premises to no more than 30 minutes.

* Amusement parks and arcades, and indoor and outdoor play centres must close.

* Boot camps and personal training must be limited to 10 people and enforce social distancing.

* Social sports such as large groups of people playing soccer in a park are banned.

* Galleries, museums, libraries, youth centres, community halls, clubs, RSLs and swimming pools must close.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

* Weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple the celebrant and two witnesses, no more than five people.

* Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people.

* Large social gatherings in homes are banned.

SCHOOLS

* It is safe to send children to school up to the end of the term.

* But some pupil-free days will be needed to plan distance learning.

* Schools will reopen after the term break with a mix of distance learning and in-school learning for all “essential workers”.

* PM to meet with teachers and other sector representatives about keeping schools open and protecting staff.

ESSENTIAL WORKERS

* Everyone who still has a job is an essential worker.

TRAVEL

* The official “do no travel” warning is now an outright ban on overseas travel, with some exceptions such as aid workers and compassionate travel. Exact time for ban to start yet to be set.

EXPORTS

* New offence of profiteering and seeking to export goods overseas, relating to such things as medical supplies and masks.

– AAP