A man exercises during a clear afternoon on the coast amid loosening restrictions put in place to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Sydney, Australia (Reuters)
Australia announced a plan consisting of three steps or phases that will try to return the country to normal after the crisis imposed by the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19 and which had the nation under mandatory confinement. The person in charge of informing the population was Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who together with the medical chief of his cabinet, Brendan Murphy, detailed each of the steps that will finish next July, in the middle of winter.
Step one:
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During this period, Australians will be able to hold small gatherings and reunite with friends and family. Educational centers, sports and recreational fields will be able to work again, as well as companies. Some employees, if their work allows it, will have to continue their work from their homes, to avoid contact with colleagues. But the big chains will return to operate normally. The real estate and auction sector will also be reactivated. In short, Morrison pointed out that it will be possible to:
– Non-work meetings of up to 10 people in public.
– Up to five visitors to your home.
– Up to 10 guests at a wedding, in addition to the couple and the celebrant.
– Up to 20 people are allowed at a funeral if they are inside and 30 if they are outside
– Religious meetings with up to 10 attendees.
However, for the time being they will continue to be closed: gyms, cinemas, stadiums, galleries, museums, zoos, pubs, clubs, game rooms, strip clubs and brothels, as well as beauty and massage therapy rooms, saunas and tattoo parlors. .
Step Two:
In this phase there are few activities that add to the reopening and it is quite similar to the first step proposed by the Australian government. However, the radical change will be that twice as many people will be allowed in each of the authorized activities. In other words, non-labor meetings of up to 20 members may be held, for example. As for home encounters, each state will be able to determine the rules according to its own criteria of unconfinement.
Beauty, massage and tattoo parlors may open up to 20 clients at a time, provided they record all contact details, and up to 20 people can participate in all outdoor sports. Pools will reopen, with restrictions. Cinemas, galleries, stadiums and zoos may have up to 20 clients. However, in this phase it will not be the turn of pubs, clubs, casinos and nightclubs yet.
Step three:
This last stage will be considered taking into account the result of the previous two and whether the contagion remained contained from now until next July, when that last stage should be activated. Thus, life could return to “normal”, with non-work meetings of up to 100 people allowed, and even larger, according to the Australian version of The Guardian newspaper.
Restaurants, cafes, bars, auction houses and home sales, movie theaters and other entertainment, weddings and funeral facilities will be able to host up to 100 people. The regulatory framework stipulates that cafes, restaurants, and food places must follow the rule of four square meters per person indoors. Pubs, clubs and possibly gaming venues may reopen. By that time, finally, Morrison also hoped that “most workers … go back to the workplace.”
The Australian case
From the outset, Australia has imposed a number of pandemic measures including limiting meetings to a maximum of two people, home confinement unless shopping, medical appointments, or exercise are required.
It has also suspended non-essential activities, although it keeps schools and kindergartens open, at the same time that it has closed the borders to foreigners and imposed quarantines on residents and citizens who come from abroad for 14 days.
The government strategy implemented progressively since last March, which is accompanied by stimulus packages and wage subsidies, has resulted in a decrease in the increase in daily cases to less than 50 in recent days.
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