What experts say about Australia’s new COVID-19 restrictions
Why are ten people allowed at a funeral, while weddings can only have five? And how is sitting in a barber’s chair for 30 minutes better than sitting in a cafe? We talk to three experts about the latest restrictions.
Health
Don't miss out on the headlines from Health. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Epidemiologists and infectious disease experts are unable to explain the logic of the government’s new social distancing rules that allow only five people to attend a wedding but ten to attend a funeral.
However, they have welcomed the fact that the government is doing more to restrict social interaction to control the spread of COVID-19.
Here is what they have to say on the new rules:
Church weddings maximum of five attendees, funerals 10 attendees.
Australian National University epidemiologist Professor Peter Collignon said he presumed the limit of five attendees was determined by the minimum number of people you could have at a wedding.
“I think personally limiting it to 10 people for a wedding wouldn’t really be any different than for a funeral,“ he said.
Bill Bowtell the former senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister during the HIV crisis in the 1980s said there was “No logic to the 5 person limit at weddings”.
“The virus didn’t get the memo to know whether it was turning up at a wedding or a funeral,“ he said.
“No reputable scientists or medical person could make head nor tail of this rule,“ he said.
Professor Josh Davis the president of the Australian Society for Infectious Diseases said he could not make any sense of the new rules.
“I don’t understand why it’s different for weddings and funerals,“ he said.
“If you can separate people 1.5m apart if it’s outdoors or position people so they have a 4m distance inside I can’t see what difference it would really make,“ he said.
The rule was not about preventing infection but about the significance of a funeral in Australian society, he said.
Boot camps of 10 people allowed if the exercise class is held outside and they are spaced 1.5m apart
Bill Bowtell: “This virus lives on surfaces and the question I have is how do you know the Boot Camp pull up bar or the chain swing and all the other equipment has not been touched by someone from the Ruby Princess,“ he said.
Professor Josh Davis: “I imagine it would be safe if you were more than 1.5m apart but I don’t know if it’s possible to do that without close contact,“ he said.
Hairdresser no more than 30 minutes and clients have to remain 1.5m apart.
Josh Davis: “People are going to have to learn to cut their own hair,” he said.
“Going to a hairdresser for 30 minutes is not low risk it’s the same as going to a cafe and sitting next to someone for 30 minutes which they have banned,” he said.
There are a lot of services in a hairdresser and when you cut someone’s hair you have to be closer than 1.5m away,” he said.
Under the governments rules which require people who have had close contact with a COVID 19 patient to isolate themselves for 14 days exposure to someone for 15 minutes is considered close contact, “ he said.
Peter Collignon: “What you are trying to do is minimise the number of people in the hairdressers and minimise exposure,“ he said. “
People thought five minutes close contact was as bad as two hours when this was not the case, the longer you are exposed to an infected person the greater the chance you will get the virus, he said.
“Having a time limit is eminently sensible,“ he said.
Professor Collignon said he could not defend the nitty-gritty of the government’s new rules but agreed with the general principle that we needed tougher restrictions on social distancing.
However, he said people were getting panicked about the level of infection in Australia when it was not as bad as it seemed because two thirds of the cases had been brought into the country from overseas and there was as yet not a high level of community transmission in Australia.
“We can’t turn everyone into a hermit,“ he said.
It was important to remember that the social distancing measures had severe economic consequences and would have to last for a very long period of time, at least until September, he said
Professor Davies said it was good that the government had increased the severity of social distancing rules but “it probably should have done this earlier,“.
“My view it should have done this at least 1 to 2 weeks ago,” he said.
Originally published as What experts say about Australia’s new COVID-19 restrictions