Coronavirus: Early reopening for pubs and restaurants and gatherings in South Australia
Premier Steven Marshall has fast-tracked the lifting of restrictions on social gatherings, pubs and restaurants for the long weekend in South Australia.
South Australia has reaped the benefit of its success against the coronavirus, with Premier Steven Marshall fast-tracking the lifting of restrictions on social gatherings, pubs and restaurants ahead of the state’s June long weekend.
With SA having no active cases of COVID-19 and just one new case in the past three weeks, the Premier said he would bow to calls from hoteliers for an easing of restrictions that were originally scheduled for June 8.
Mr Marshall has brought forward a raft of changes to June 5, the start of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, so that pubs, clubs and restaurants can open for up to 20 patrons.
The AHA had been asking for an upper limit of 50 patrons but Mr Marshall said 20 was a good compromise and a workable starting point for a reopening.
The government also announced that, from this Friday, restaurants would be open for indoor dining for up to 10 patrons, in addition to the current maximum of 10 outdoor diners, meaning up to 20 people in any restaurant.
The ban on the service of alcohol at restaurants was also scrapped, meaning South Australians can have a beer or wine this Friday with dinner.
“We are tackling a health and economic crisis at the same time and it’s really hitting the people, families and businesses in our state,” Mr Marshall said.
“People have lost jobs, so we have to get the balance right and do everything we can to get people back to work in a way that won’t send us backwards.
“We know thousands of small businesses and their employees have been doing it incredibly tough recently, through no fault of their own, and my government is committed to working with them to ensure they get back to business as quickly and as safely as possible.”