Coronavirus: Keep away warning for Easter travellers

City-dwellers are being urged not to visit coastal and regional towns during the school holidays and over Easter.

Nationals MP Darren Chester says his Lakes Entrance home town did not have the services and tourist attractions open to care for the thousands of visitors. Picture: AAP

City-dwellers are being urged not to visit coastal and regional towns during the school holidays and over Easter, with warnings that a much-wanted holiday is not a good enough reason during the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid concerns people were not following travel advice to leave home only for essential activities, Nationals MP Darren Chester said his Lakes Entrance home town did not have the services and tourist attractions open to care for the thousands of visitors who usually arrive at Easter.

“For someone who has spent most of their working life encouraging city people to visit regions and support local jobs, it saddens me to tell them to stay away at the moment,” the member for the Victorian seat of Gippsland said.

“Although there is no shortage of food, we still have limited supplies in our supermarkets due to panic buying, and our health facilities are not designed to cope with a large increase in their caseloads.

“The best way to demonstrate your love for favourite beachside villages and small country towns is to leave us alone until this is over.”

South Australian Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey, whose seat of Grey takes in the Yorke Peninsula, said people should be looking for Easter eggs only in their home gardens this year. In the Queensland electorate of Leichhardt, Liberal MP Warren Entsch encouraged people to listen to political leaders: “You shouldn’t be leaving your house, let alone your bloody suburb. I know people love to come to those areas but stay away at Easter. We’ll welcome you back here sooner rather than later.”