Following today’s first meeting of the National Cabinet, the Tasmanian Government, along with all other jurisdictions, has agreed to take further steps to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community.
As of midnight tonight, all arrivals into Australia by air or sea, who have traveled internationally, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
This will apply equally to Tasmanians returning from overseas, regardless of the country they are returning from.
I am also pleased that the suspension of cruise ships entering our ports, which I announced with immediate effect earlier this morning, has been adopted across the rest of the nation.
Further to these travel measures, from Monday non-essential static gatherings of more than 500 people should not occur as a precaution to ensure we can manage the transmission of this virus in the most effective way possible.
This measure will not include schools, universities or workplaces, however the principle of social distancing should still apply in these settings. For example, non-essential assemblies and lectures housing more than 500 students in schools should be avoided.
The type of static event that will be captured by these measures will be, for example, events that have more than 500 people attending such as football games, where people are seated closely together, or a seated concert performance.
However, fairs, festivals and markets that have people moving through them, and attending at disparate times throughout the event, are not considered static events and can continue. This means large markets, like Salamanca or Harvest markets, would likely be considered non-static events.
It has been agreed by all jurisdictions the new border policy of self-isolation, and the restrictions on non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people, will be mandated with powers available under our Public Health Act and other emergency management legislation as appropriate, used to apply this new policy.
I urge Tasmanians to be aware of social distancing as an effective way to slow the transmission of the virus and encourage people to be mindful of the 1.5 metre rule, and the need to limit physical contact through handshakes, hugs or kisses, whilst interacting in public.
The National Cabinet will meet again early this week to consider further measures to protect those in aged care and other vulnerable groups, as well as considering ways to limit transmission associated with non-essential gatherings of more than 100 people indoors.
There is nothing more important than the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians, and while the risk to the public of coronavirus remains low, we will take all precautionary action to manage the situation proactively and keep people safe.
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