Easy Explainer: Three step plan out of coronavirus lockdown, what it means for you
Scott Morrison has outlined his three-stage plan out of COVID-19 lockdown. The state and territory leaders have also reacted. This is how it will happen.
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NSW is set to ease coronavirus restrictions from Friday as Premier Gladys Berejiklian vows to “fire up the economy”.
The state will adopt most of the stage one changes in Australia’s three-step road map to recovery, outlined by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it would only work if the community remained vigilant by maintaining social distancing and good hygiene.
Ms Berejiklian, The Daily Telegraph reports, says the first stages of the state’s COVID-19 exit strategy will allow outdoor gatherings of 10 people, allowing picnics, barbecues and other recreational activities.
Mr Morrison and the National Cabinet agreed on a three-step plan to navigate Australia out of the coronavirus lockdown and “to achieve a COVID safe economy and society”.
Mr Morrison said he hoped to move Australia through the three steps by July, depending on health advice, but the states and territories will control the pace a return to normal life.
“Step one is well defined, step two, there’s a bit more work to be done, and step three, there is still a lot of discussion to be had before we can well define it properly,” Mr Morrison said.
The steps will focus on opening up the economy, maintaining social distancing and hygiene measures and incremental increases in the size of social gatherings, recreational and travel.
The states and territories will “cut and paste the national plan to suit their local circumstances,” Mr Morrison said.
The other states are expected to outline their timetable for the timing of step one over the coming days.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will make an announcement about the lifting of the state’s restrictionson ion Monday.
Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory have already begun announcing those timetables.
Progress will be reviewed by the National Cabinet every three weeks.
The PM stressed a lot of uncertainty still lay ahead along with “inconsistencies”.
So what do those steps and the loosening of restrictions mean for you, your job, your lifestyle and the economy at large?
Peter Collignon, a professor of microbiology at the Australian National University welcomed the government’s three step plan, but warned breakouts of COVID-19 were to be expected.
“The main thing we have to watch is as we go through step one, step two, step three is we don’t get unexpected findings,” he said.
“We are going to still have clusters, we will see things like nursing home breakouts I would presume, we’ll see workplaces like the abattoir for instance.
“I also think as winter comes we might actually see slightly more.
“To me it looks like a good plan that keeps to the basic principles - which I don’t think we can compromise too much - but it’s a way forward and it’ll be watching and seeing how it goes as we move forward.”
Prof Collignon said Australians needed to heed the advice of keeping 1.5m distance from others and good hand hygiene despite restrictions being eased.
“This is mainly transmitted via droplets and the big deal about droplets is they drop and that’s why the 1.5m [rule] is there,” he said.
“That can mean you can resume a lot of activities provided you keep to the rules with reasonable safety.
“Not absolute safety, but a reasonably low risk.
NATIONAL CABINET CHANGES - STATES ADOPT THIS AS THEY SEE FIT
STEP 1
1. Gatherings
Step one will enable gatherings of up to 10 people in businesses and public places. Five guests in your own home will be permitted.
2. Retail
Restaurants, cafes and shopping centres will reopen.
The Australian Retailers Association has praised the Federal Government’s plan to recovery, adding that a thriving retail sector was essential to a healthy economy
“While there is still some pain to come for retailers and the Australian economy in general, ARA is confident there are good fundamentals in place to allow retailers to shift from crisis mode towards a slow recovery,” Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said.
Mr Zahra told News Corp customers can expect some changes to the shopping experience as stores begin to reopen.
“If you talk about a small store, what customers can expect to see is they’ll either have security or a staff member outside actually managing the crowd control,” he said.
“It’s important for retailers to make sure that they’re enforcing social distancing but customers also have to self regulate, so they should be very conscious about not getting too close to anyone else and obviously carrying hand sanitiser.”
3. Schools
Children will return to classroom. Community centres will reopen along with playgrounds.
4. Sport
Golfers can take to the course again. Swimming pools will reopen as will boot camps in parks.
5. Work
You should continue to work from home if it works for you and your employer.
6. Real estate
Open home inspections and in-person auctions will be permitted again.
Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly said: “it’s pleasing to see that we might be returning to some normality.
“The state governments are starting to lift some restrictions on how we can operate in a physical sense. But as an industry we don’t want to be rushed with this. The last thing we want to see is another outbreak.”
Mr Kelly said it was entirely appropriate for states and territories to manage the practicalities of the return to normal business practice.
“The virus is at different levels at different parts of the countries,” he said.
He said the reopening of state borders would provide a much-needed boost for the nation’s property market, as buyers and sellers would be free to move interstate.
Mr Kelly also said it was important to note that there had not been a single coronavirus transmission due to real estate practice.
7. Travel
Local and regional travel is permitted
8. Funerals and weddings
Funerals can have as many as 30 people in attendance. Weddings are limited to 10 people.
9. Economy
Reopening the economy in step one is expected to support $3.1bn in economic activity and 250,000 jobs per month.
STEP 2
1. Gatherings
Step two will allow gatherings of up to 20 people including businesses and venues and public places outside of home. States and territories may allow larger numbers in some circumstances.
2. Retail
Most business will be operating again.
“There will be more retail openings on sector-based COVID-safe plans, organised community sport, beauty parlours, and you’ll be pleased to know, barre classes open once again,” Mr Morrison said.
Cinemas, galleries, museums, beauty therapists, camping grounds, caravan parks and amusement parks will also be open.
Mr Zahra said he expected retailers would now be focused on how they can reopen successfully after a long hibernation period.
“I don’t think retailers will be gun shy, I think they’ll be using this time to plan to open properly,” he said.
“What we don’t want is a false start.
“I’m sure that every retailer would be as keen to open as keen as customers are to shop.”
3. Sport
Gyms will reopen. Community sport will restart.
Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll stressed the need to undertake the changes in a “methodical” way.
“The ability and opportunity for sports - both performance sport and community sport - to get going again is excellent,” Mr Carroll said.
“But sport needs to be responsible and do it in a safe way and follow the framework that’s been designed.”
Mr Carroll said the changes to COVID-19 restrictions were “very important” not just for athletes training for the Tokyo Olympics, but also the community.
“We know that sport is a great community builder and in that connectivity of getting communities back together, sport has a tremendous role to play.
“That also is for our athletes who are going to the Games. They can play that tremendous role, just by getting them back into training, but doing so in a methodical and safe way under the protocols designed by the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport).”
4. Work
You should continue to work from home if it works for you and your employer
5. Travel
Some interstate travel will be permitted.
6. Economy
Step two is expected to support $3bn in economic activity and 275,000 jobs per month.
Peter Collignon, a professor of microbiology at the Australian National University welcomed the government’s three step plan, but warned breakouts of COVID-19 were to be expected.
“The main thing we have to watch is as we go through step one, step two, step three is we don’t get unexpected findings,” he said.
“We are going to still have clusters, we will see things like nursing home breakouts I would presume, we’ll see workplaces like the abattoir for instance.
“I also think as winter comes we might actually see slightly more.
“To me it looks like a good plan that keeps to the basic principles – which we can compromise too much – but it’s a way forward and it’ll be watching and seeing how it goes as we move forward.”
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STEP 3
“This will become clearer as we move through the first two steps,” Mr Morrison said
1. Gatherings
Up to 100 people will be able to gather together. State and territories may allow larger numbers in some instances.
2. Retail
Pubs, nightclubs, food courts, saunas and bathhouses will reopen.
“Pubs and clubs with some restrictions will be open, and also possibly gaming venues,” Mr Morrison said.
3. Work
Most employees will be back at the workplace with social distancing and hygiene measures still in place.
Prof Collignon said Australians needed to heed the advice of keeping 1.5m distance from others and good hand hygiene despite restrictions being eased.
“This is mainly transmitted via droplets and the big deal about droplets is they drop and that’s why the 1.5m [rule] is there,” he said.
“That can mean you can resume a lot of activities provided you keep to the rules with reasonable safety.
“Not absolute safety, but a reasonably low risk.”
4. Travel
All interstate travel is expected to be back in operation. Consideration will be given to allowing cross-Tasman, Pacific Island and international students travel.
5. Economy
Step three is expected to support $3.3bn in economic activity and 325,000 jobs per month.
The plan’s forecast of getting 850,000 jobs reinstated by July was “good news”, according to economists, but AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said this target might take a little longer to reach because of the damage to the economy and businesses being hesitant to rehire workers quickly.
“The plan seems like a good one - it’s not based on US-style bravado,” he said.
“It’s measured, stepped out over time, with checks along the way.”
Dr Oliver said it had been estimated that one million jobs had disappeared, so a quick recovery - given the talk in March was of a six-month lockdown - was “a pretty good outcome for the economy”.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said the three-step plan “made sense” and enabled businesses to plan with more certainty.
“It’s very clear, which is good,” he said.
“It may be in some states and territories things will be back to a relative sense of normality a bit earlier.
“But it only takes a massive rise in the number if COVID cases and you have the reimposition of lockdowns and we start back at square one.”
Mr James said it was important to get people returning to employment, as the longer they stayed out of a job, the harder it became for them to get back to work.
Professor Lyn Gilbert, an infectious disease physician from the University of Sydney’s Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, said the Australian public had to take on some personal responsibility amid easing restrictions to prevent another outbreak.
With restrictions on retail, restaurants and cafes set to be eased in step one of the Government’s new plan, Prof Gilbert said some self-management will be required.
“It depends on how the public responds to these things and whether they keep their distance in places where they’re responsible for implementing things,” she said.
“It’s all very well to get supermarkets and shops to put rules in place, but once you get a few people in you’ve got to rely on them to take notice of what the restrictions are because businesses can’t monitor absolutely everybody that goes in there.”
Prof Gilbert warned against complacency as a spike in COVID-19 cases could see restrictions put back in place to prevent the virus’ spread.
“The problem is that we’re all sick of it, we all want a bit more freedom and there’ll be a certain feeling of release,” she said.
“It won’t necessarily be because people mean to break the rules, but they’ll feel a bit more relaxed and less cautious.
“That’s when the risk may come in, we’ve got to stay relatively vigilant.”
WHAT QUEENSLAND IS CHANGING
Queensland will move into step one of reopening on Saturday, May 16, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed.
People will also be allowed to travel up to 150km for day trips while up to 10 people will be allowed to gather outside. Businesses must have a COVID-safe plan when they reopen.
In regional Queensland, up to 20 locals will be allowed to dine out, due to the low levels of coronavirus in those areas. Those locals will be allowed to travel up to 500km as well.
The timeline around schools opening up has not changed, with the Government hoping to have all students back in classrooms by May 25, depending on the number of cases.
Stage Two of the Government’s road map will come into effect on June 13. It will allow for gatherings of up to 20 visitors at homes.
Dining in at restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes and RSLs for up to 20 patrons at a time will also be permitted, as well as holidaying within your own region.
Step three will come into effect on July 10, further loosening restrictions such as allowing a maximum of 100 people at a range of public gatherings.
Workplaces who reopen will be required to submit a COVID safe plan to the industry body.
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WHAT SOUTH AUSTRALIA IS CHANGING
Restrictions in South Australia will be lifted on regional travel, outdoor dining and sports training, university tutorials, libraries and auctions from Monday.
From June 8, changes will be considered for cinemas and theatres, seated dining, galleries and museums, beauty salons, driving lessons, gyms, and further easing on funerals and competitive sport.
Premier Steven Marshall said South Australia had done a great job in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and that changes will be considered at a later date.
“We are very grateful to the people of SA for the way they have responded to the restrictions to date,” he said.
“That is the thing that has put us in such a great position in SA.”
WHAT VICTORIA IS CHANGING
Victoria will remain in lockdown. There will be no changes in the state today, tomorrow or Sunday.
“The rules will stay in place,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
However, he has flagged next week will likely bring further announcements.
Mr Andrews said he welcomed the overall national pathway, but he also welcomed the decision to leave the easing of restrictions to individual states and territories.
“These are the rules, and the strong compliance we’ve seen from Victorians, for which I’m very grateful, that’s what’s delivered these numbers,” Mr Andrews said.
“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us. The key point here is that, even at the end of next week, even at the end of May, there will still be rules in place. And they’re there for a good reason. They’re not there for me. They’re there for your safety.”
WHAT NSW IS CHANGING
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said NSW would “have its own timetable” within the National Cabinet’s framework, and would analyse eased restrictions before implementing them.
The NSW Government has already eased a number of restrictions listed under the first stage of the plan.
Current restrictions would not be changed for NSW residents ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, but life could return to something resembling normal by late June.
The NSW government has previously committed to resuming some face-to-face learning in schools on May 11 and flagged an uptick in retail activity.
WHAT TASMANIA IS CHANGING
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein said from Monday, 20 people will be able to attend funerals, up from 10, and aged care visits will move to one visit per week
Nationals parks will reopen for exercise, but only for people who live within 30km
Tasmania will move to Stage 1 on May 18, subject to public health advice, with border controls unchanged
From May 25, primary school students, and Year 11 and 12 students would return to school. From June 9, high school students from year 7 to 10 will go back to school.
From June 15, stage 2 will be introduced depending on advice.
At this point, gatherings will increase to 20 people at a time, indoor and outdoor areas including restaurants, cafes, cinemas, museums, galleries, places of worship and weddings. Up to 50 people would be allowed to attend a funeral. Gyms and bootcamps would be open to 20 people, beauty services including tattoo parlours would also reopen and indoor sport would also be allowed.
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