Prime Minister Launches 3-Step Plan

THE Prime Minister has released a three-step plan to a covid safe economy by July this year.

Prime Minister Morrison said Australians have done the work to get to this point and he wants to thank them most of all.

“There will be risks, there will be challenges, there will be outbreaks, there will be more cases, there will be set backs,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“Not everything will go to plan,” he said.

“There will be inconsistencies, states will and must move at their own pace and will cut and paste out of this plan to suit their local circumstances,” he said.

“We can not allow our fear of going backwards to prevent us from going forwards,” said Mr Morrison.

The Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, said step one is a cautious approach and each step will be contingent on people continuing to social distance, good hand hygiene, people staying at home if they are unwell and most importantly getting tested

“Step one is cautious, we are in uncharted territory and we want to make sure outbreaks that occur are managed and controlled,” said Mr Murphy.

“We could lose the battle we’ve won so well so far, you only have to look at the nightly news and see what’s happening in really good countries with good health systems, like Australia, where they let this virus get out of control unfortunately,” he said.

“We’ve managed and we’ve been lucky to control this virus and we wat to keep that control so while we relax some of these measures cautiously, every Australian has to do their bit,” said Mr Murphy.

THREE STEP PLAN:

The Prime Minister explained the steps will have greater details as we move through the process.

Each state will be responsible for their own timetable.

The plan will be reviewed every three weeks and changes made as required.

Taking the next step will be contingent on:

1. Medical evidence that the next steps won’t present too much risk
2. Enough testing is taking place to identify community transmission
3. Public health are able to trace cases effectively and track local outbreaks

5.3million people have downloaded the CovidSafe app, which the Prime Minister encourages to assist with contact tracing and tackling outbreaks early.

Step 1:

• Will allow for greater connection with friends and family
• Gatherings of up to 10 people
• 5 guests in your own home
• Working from home if it works for you and your employer
• Children back in classrooms and playgrounds
• Golfers back on the green, lap swimmers back in the pool, bootcamps back in the parks
• Retail and small cafes and restaurants reopening – see more detail below (Pubs and Clubs)
• Intrastate recreational travel
• 30 attendees at funerals outdoors
• 10 attendees at weddings

Step 2:

• Support larger style gatherings
• Up to 20 people at venues such as cinemas and galleries
• More retail openings on sector based covid safe plans
• Organised community sport – 20 people
• Beauty parlours open once again

Step 3:

• Gatherings of up to 100 people
• Most workers will be back to work
• Interstate travel will likely resume
• Pubs and clubs will open with some restrictions and possibly gaming venues

Travel

• The Prime Minister said international travel is not in the foreseeable future.
• International students may return in step 3 under testing and quarantine measures.
• The Prime Minister said intrastate travel restrictions was not a federal recommendation and was a state-based decision.
• Intrastate freight has continued to function well during the pandemic.

Pubs and Clubs

• In Step 1: Seated restaurants in pubs and clubs, if the states and territories chose, could start with 10 people.
• In Step 2: They can still do seated dining with up to 20 people.