Not full lockdown yet but Centrelink queue from 6am as businesses shut
QUEUES began forming outside the Marrickville Centrelink office at 6am yesterday as thousands started feeling the pinch following this week’s shutdown of public venues.
From midday on Monday, places of worship, pubs, registered and licensed clubs, hotels, gyms and indoor sporting venues, cinemas, entertainment venues and casinos were all closed.
Restaurants and cafes have been restricted to takeaway and home delivery, while bottle shops attached to pubs will remain open, as will hotel accommodation.
Urging Australians to stay home whenever possible and to stop getting together socially, last night Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced further restrictions including shutting down food courts except for takeaway service, limiting hairdressers and barber shops to 30 minute appointments and closing down beauty therapy, tanning, waxing and nail salons along with tattoo parlours.
Weddings have been limited to five participants including the bride and groom, and funerals to 10 people while international travel has also now been banned.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy said they were “very worried” about the rate of rise confirmed cases.
“It is a very, very steep growth and it’s very concerning,” he said.
“These measures are really draconian. We know that. But if we are going to control community transmission, we have to stop the capacity of this virus from spreading from person to person.”
Asking parents to keep their children home “if they can”, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said schools would stay open.
“No child will be turned away from school,” she said.
“If you have the capacity to work from home, you should do so.”
A new emergency bill was also introduced into the State Parliament yesterday with a range of temporary measures, including empowering police to take action on breaches of Covid-19 public health orders and allowing supermarkets to stock shelves through the Easter long weekend to combat panic buying and stockpiling.
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