Editorial: Stay home, save lives

EDITORIAL: We all have a role to play in halting the spread of coronavirus in our state and for a lot of us, it’s relatively simple. Stay at home and save lives.

THERE was a time, just a few weeks ago, when Tasmania was trying to encourage tourists to visit. Not anymore.

There was a time when the sun would split the clouds and Tasmanians would flock outdoors to beer gardens, parks, beaches, backyards and share a beer or two with family or a group of mates. Not anymore.

The messages this week from Premier Peter Gutwein couldn’t be further from normal: tourists go home; Tasmanians: no picnics, no parties.

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At hard-hitting and sometimes emotional press conferences this week Mr Gutwein said the coronavirus pandemic was a time for locals to stay at home and for visitors to go back to where they came from.

“If you’re not a permanent resident, if you’re in a hotel at the moment, if you don’t meet the criteria of either being an essential worker or somebody that lives in a hotel, then you should plan to leave the state,” Mr Gutwein said.

“Go home. I’m sorry to stay that, but go home.”

Premier Peter Gutwein during one of his daily press conference in Hobart. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

The state’s tourism industry — one of our biggest employers and money-spinners — had been hit hard by a restrictions on hotels, clubs and restaurants, flight cancellations and a virtual shutdown of the state’s border. Mr Gutwein said he would make no apologies for striving to keep Tasmanians safe and sending visitors home was part of that.

“We’re an island that was build on tourism and visitation and it hurts me to say this, but do not come and do not put Tasmanians at risk,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday said anyone arriving in Australia from overseas will face 14 days quarantine in an airport hotel. That means no one can arrive in Tasmania directly from overseas before spending time in quarantine. Even when they arrive in Tasmania after those 14 days, they’ll be required to stay in quarantine for another 14 days when they arrive on our island.

Yesterday Mr Gutwein went a step further in establishing three isolation centres where anyone who has returned from overseas since March 14 will be required to isolate for 14 days.

Furthermore he has implored all Tasmanians to stay home this weekend if they can and for them not to congregate in groups of 10 or more.

The rules will be policed and anyone flouting the orders, which were in place from 6pm yesterday, will face a fine of up to $16,800.

Parents who can are being asked to keep their children home from Monday.

Coronavirus testing kits being packaged on a production line . Picture: ED JONES / AFP

These are not easy measures to absorb because they impinge so drastically on our way of life.

If someone had told us three months ago we’d effectively be locked up at home unable to spend time with our extended family or friends and enjoy all the pastimes we’ve always loved, we wouldn’t have believed them.

But in the scheme of things, the sacrifices pale into insignificance when you consider the consequences of losing control of the spread of coronavirus.

We all have a role to play and for a lot of us, it’s relatively simple. Stay at home and save lives.