Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would move to Stage 2 restrictions after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday night, but the Victorian Premier (pictured above) has warned Victoria may move to stricter shutdown measures before the rest of the country as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
“We can’t wait for everyone else to catch up,” he said.
“If we did that, then in Victoria and New South Wales, this thing would be so far away from us, that we will look like Italy.”
The National Cabinet agreed the States and Territories would need to take individual measures to respond to the pandemic – but what will these look like?
Under the new Stage 2 restrictions, Mr Morrison warned Australians against going out unless it is to buy food, attend medical appointments, exercise or to provide care and support to someone. International travel was also banned, though schools remain open.
New Zealand moved to a Level 4 alert – which is expected to be in place for a “number of weeks” according to the NZ Government – yesterday, despite being behind Australia with 205 cases at last count.
Under their measures (pictured above), anyone not involved in essential work must stay home. Schools and businesses are closed, apart from those deemed essential such as supermarkets, pharmacies and clinics. Most public transport has also been suspended.
In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has locked down the country, only allowing people to leave their home for food, health reasons or work (where this absolutely cannot be done from home), closing all non-essential shops and banning meetings of more than two people.
At Sunday night’s press conference, the PM said Australians would not be confined to their homes – but is that a promise he will be able to keep?
