AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Scott Morrison laid down the law on March 17 in the nation’s emergency response to the Coronavirus scare. 

Paraphrasing his own words, he couldn’t have been more blunt. [See highlights footage below.] 

“The ban on non-essential gatherings of 100 or greater in indoor areas. In outdoor areas it’s 500, in indoor areas it’s 100 and that is effective now, as of today. And those arrangements in terms of the legal enforcement of those measures are being put in place by the States and territories.

“We are upgrading the travel ban on Australians to level 4 for the entire world. That is the first time that has ever happened in Australia’s history. The travel advice to every Australian is do not travel abroad. Do not go overseas. That is a very clear instruction. For those of you who are thinking of going overseas in the school holidays, don’t. Don’t go overseas.

“Whatever we do, we’ve got to do for at least six months. Six months. So that means the disruption that would occur from the closure of schools around this country, make no mistake, would be severe.

“What do I mean by severe; tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if not more. The impact on the availability of health workers, a 30 per cent impact on the availability of health workers is our advice. That will put people’s lives at risk.

“So let’s keep our heads as parents when it comes to this. Let’s do the right thing by the country and by each other and follow the proper advice. There is a national public interest here in keeping schools open and our advice is that that is not being done to the detriment of the health of any child.

“The following visitors and staff will not be permitted to enter an aged care facility. Obviously those that returned from overseas in the past 14 days. Those that have been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days. Those with fever or symptoms or acute respiratory infection. Those who have not been vaccinated against influenza after May 1.

“The facilities must also implement the following measures for restricting visits and visitors to reduce the risk of transmission to residents. Limiting visits to a short duration. Limiting visits to a maximum of two visitors at one time per day.

“These may be immediate social supports, family members, close friends, professional services or advocacy workers. Visits should be conducted in a resident’s room, outdoors or in a specific area designated by the facility rather than communal areas where the risk of transmission to other residents is greater.

“There should be no large group visits or gatherings including social activities or entertainment to be permitted at this time. No school groups of any size should be allowed to visit aged care facilities.

“Stop hoarding. I can’t be more blunt about it. Stop it! It’s not sensible, it’s not helpful and I’ve got to say it’s been one of the most disappointing things I’ve seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis. That is not who we are as a people, it is not necessary, it is not something that people should be doing.

“What it does, is that it’s distracting attention and efforts that need to be going into other measures to be focussing on how we maintain supply chains into these shopping centres. There is no reason for people to be hoarding supplies for fear of a lock-down or anything like this.

“Stop doing it, it’s ridiculous, it’s un-Australian and it must stop…

“Last week we focussed very much on the stimulus type activity, encouraging investment, encouraging demand into the economy, providing support to small businesses.

“Measures that we are focussing on now are of a different nature. They are focussed more on the cushioning impact of the safety net for individuals and on small businesses.

“The Reserve Bank has been involved in our discussion on those issues, they’ll obviously make their decisions independently as appropriate. But we are putting in place further measures and we will announce them once they have been properly designed and they can be properly implemented. We are not delaying, we are moving with great haste on this.

“But we are doing it carefully to ensure we get the design of those measures right so they can be implemented as quickly as possible and provide that support.”PC