Coronavirus Australia: picnics back on as chains come off in two states

Queensland and Western Australia will ease COVID-19 restrictions allowing picnics, beach trips and other social outings.

Tanya Shepley, owner of the White Owl Boutique in Brisbane, with customer Meg Ripps on Sunday as it emerged shopping restrictions would be eased. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Queensland and Western Australia will ease COVID-19 restrictions — allowing picnics, beach trips and other social outings — as governments become more confident the nation is winning the fight with the virus.

With just 98 active cases in Queensland and 55 in Western Australia, ­freedom-of-movement restrictions will be relaxed but border lockdowns will remain.

It appears likely people in NSW and Victoria will have to wait for an easing of restrictions, although new national cabinet guidelines on sport to be debated this week may allow for an increase in community recreation.

Frustration in NSW erupted in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Sunday when lifeguards and police were forced to disperse crowds at Clovelly and Coogee as people gathered to enjoy perfect autumn weather.

Hundreds of people head to the beach at Coogee in Sydney. Picture: Adam Yip

Queensland, which is still ­refusing to open schools to all students, will from Saturday allow people to travel up to 50km from their homes for recreation, meet a friend or shop for “non-essential items” after just three new cases were recorded over the weekend.

The West Australian government ­announced that gatherings of up to 10 people for non-work ­activities — which had been ­restricted to just two people — would be ­permitted from Monday after ­another day of no new cases.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the first move to lift restrictions would “give some relief’’, but declared she would wait until at least May 15 ­before considering lifting the lockdown on schools.

And she warned that she would “clamp back down’’ if the rollback led to mass gatherings.

The announcement was rare good news for Tanya Shepley, who owns the White Owl Boutique on Bulimba’s trendy high street in Brisbane’s inner east. “I don’t ­expect it will pick up until October or November when it is summer and there are Christmas parties. Prior to that, it will still be a struggle,’’ she said.

Friends Meg Ripps, 21, and Georgia Warren, 22, ducked into the local shop on Sunday to pick up makeup and quickly browse the clothing racks. “It will be liberating for everyone to have something else to do rather than sit at home, and I think it will be good for businesses as well,” Ms Warren said.

Ms Palaszczuk refused to budge on the state’s border controls despite increasing frustration from business.

Australian Industry group chief executive Innes Willox on Sunday said states borders — like that between the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads — needed to be reopened to help tourism and other business. “Some state governments introduced border restrictions that resulted in a patchwork of rules and created a nightmare for communities and business,’’ he said.

Ms Palaszczuk said it was too risky. “Not at this time, there is still large community transmission in NSW and Victoria,’’ she said.

“I’m not saying that it is not going to happen in the future, but unfortunately we can’t do it at this stage.’’

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan said COVID-19 restrictions had saved thousands of lives but it had also been difficult for families, especially elderly people.

He said the effect on the West Australian economy had been devastating and that easing the restrictions would allow up to 10 people at once to go to house open-for-inspections, while observing social-distancing rules, and to display villages. The same rule applies in South Australia.

Mr McGowan said the changes were a reward for West Australians doing the right thing, with just 55 active cases of COVID-19 in the state.

“Let’s just watch what happens here, let’s see how it goes … don’t have wild parties, don’t do stupid things that mean we have to clamp down again,’’ he said.

The NSW government refused to follow the lead of the other states as it again struggled at the weekend with hundreds of people in Sydney openly defying social-distancing rules.

In Victoria, the government said there were no immediate plans to lift any lockdown measures. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the response to the pandemic had been effective, “but it’s not all over yet’’.

Tasmania, which on Sunday recorded its 11th death, opted to extend a harder lockdown in the state’s northwest that had been due to expire from Monday.

The ban on non-essential retail and strict enforcement of home self-isolation will continue for at least another week.

Director of Public Health Mark Veitch said he wanted to see hundreds more people tested in northwest Tasmania before forming a view on whether the harder lockdown could be eased.

additional reporting: Paige Taylor, John Ferguson, Matthew Denholm, Natasha Robinson

MACKENZIE SCOTT