Coronavirus in Australia: Everything that shuts on Monday, from pubs to cafes and cinemas
Pubs, restaurants, cafes, casinos, sporting venues and cinemas have shut down across Australia, as of midday today.
From midday today, Australia has become a vastly different place to live as pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas and indoor sporting venues across the country shut down indefinitely.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison last night announced a new raft of unprecedented restrictions on non-essential gatherings in a bid to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus.
WHAT IS CLOSED?
Pubs
Registered and licenced clubs
Night clubs
Casinos
Cinemas
Gyms
Indoor sporting venues
Indoor churches and other places of worship
WHAT’S OPEN?
Cafes and restaurants can open but are restricted to take away and/or home delivery only.
Hotels can only open the accommodation aspect of their business.
Supermarkets
Bottle shops
Food delivery
Petrol stations
Convenience stores
Banks
Pharmacies
Hairdressers and beauticians
Freight and logistics
Post offices
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More liberal measures rolled out last week fell on deaf ears, with Australians continuing to cram into venues across the country at the weekend.
“We don’t now have any confidence that people would refrain from gathering in those ways, in those pubs, clubs and nightclubs,” Mr Morrison said at a press conference in Canberra on Sunday.
“We have no confidence that will be followed. So unfortunately, because guidelines can’t be followed, then for public health reasons we now need to take further action which shuts those gatherings down.”
As a result, stage one of tough new restrictions were implemented today, March 23, at noon, covering a wide range of venues that are now shut down.
And they could stay shut for up to six months.
The Prime Minister said that the measures cover essentially anything deemed a “principal place of socialisation”.
All pubs, registered and licensed clubs, and licensed premises inside hotels and pubs have been ordered to close, Mr Morrison said.
In those venues, accommodation facilities can continue to operate as normal but with good hygiene and social distancing measures in place.
Entertainment venues such as theatres and live music spaces, cinemas, casinos and nightclubs have also shut their doors to patrons.
Restaurants and cafes are restricted to providing takeaway only, with dining in now forbidden.
“Home deliveries, takeaway, all of these things will continue, as I know many of these catering businesses are already adjusting their business models in anticipation of things that they believed would potentially take place,” Mr Morrison said.
Takeaway alcohol businesses such as bottle shops will be able to continue operating.
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Also subject to the closure order are indoor sporting venues, gyms and places of worship.
“Enclosed spaces for funerals and things of that nature will have to follow the strict four square metre rule which will be enforced,” Mr Morrison said.
The historic order could be just a taste of things to come, with the Prime Minister saying authorities would consider further restrictions if necessary.
“The premiers and chief ministers together with myself will be considering stage two restrictions in this area, but what we first want to see is we want to see the public respond to these very serious measures,” he said.
Mr Morrison didn’t detail what stage two could look like, saying that discussion hadn’t yet taken place.
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He warned that these tough new restrictions will be in place until the coronavirus crisis is brought under control.
“Once you start putting these sorts of arrangements in place, we should have the expectation that they will remain in place for at least six months,” Mr Morrison said.
“I wouldn’t want to give the impression that these arrangements are things that will be in place for a couple of weeks or a month and then will be discarded and everything will be OK. These are very significant measures.”
Shopping centres and supermarkets are not subject to the new restrictions, he said, but again, those places are required to encourage social distancing and good hygiene.
Mr Morrison conceded that the widespread closures will have an economic impact on businesses and could see Australians lose their jobs.
“I am deeply regretful that those workers and those business owners who will be impacted by this decision will suffer the economic hardship that undoubtably they will now have to face.
“That is a very, very regretful decision.
“But it’s a necessary one in the view of the premiers and chief ministers and myself, to ensure that we can control the spread of this virus.”
Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy had a stern message for those Australians ignoring urgent warnings about social distancing.
“If Australia is going to get through the challenge of this pandemic over the coming months, we have to live differently,” Professor Murphy said.
“We’ve been making that point very clear over the last week. But it’s clear that some people haven’t got it. I’m particularly talking to young people who may think they’re immune to the effects of this virus.
“It’s true, most young people don’t get significant disease. But as a young person, you don’t want to be responsible for the severe and possibly fatal disease of an elder, vulnerable Australian.
“We have to stop the rapid spread of this virus.”