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.