ScoMo's HUGE backflip: PM cancels trip to Cronulla Sharks game after Peter Dutton was diagnosed with coronavirus - but he WON'T be tested for virus despite seeing infected minister three days ago
- The life-long Cronulla Sharks fan insisted he would attended Saturday's game
- But in a last-minute u-turn, he announced that he would no longer be going
- It comes after the government announced a ban on gatherings with 500 people
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced he will no longer go and watch his 'beloved' Cronulla Sharks in their game on Saturday.
The life-long Sharks fan had just hours before insisted he would attend his team's first NRL game of the season against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
It attracted controversy after the government announced it would effectively ban 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.
Australian officials were forced to take the drastic action as the number of coronavirus cases across the country rose to 200.
Scott Morrison said he not be attending the Cronulla Sharks game against the Rabbitohs on Saturday (pictured, Mr Morrison at NRL game between Cronulla and Manly in May)
The delay sparked speculation Mr Morrison chose Monday as it allowed a Hillsong conference in Sydney to go ahead, as well as his team's NRL game.
But on Friday evening, his office said he would no longer be attending as his attendance could be 'misrepresented'.
A spokesman said: 'After further consideration and [because of] the potential for the prime minister’s attendance to be misrepresented, the prime minister has chosen not to attend the match this weekend.'
Earlier on Friday, Mr Morrison insisted he would still be attending the game.
'It might be the last game (I get) to go to for a long time,' he said.
A spokesman from Mr Morrison's office then defended the decision, saying the ban on gatherings was 'not actually necessary yet, but will be going forward'.
'It's very precautionary,' the spokesman said, adding the decision was based on the advice of all the chief medical officers to allow the federal government time to formulate protocols and guidelines.
A major Hillsong conference will wrap up on Sunday with many online speculating Mr Morrison will want to attend (pictured, Mr Morrison at Easter Sunday service at Horizon Church)
It comes as the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, became the first Australian politician to be diagnosed with coronavirus.
But despite Mr Dutton being present at an all-cabinet meeting on Tuesday, neither Mr Morrison nor any other cabinet ministers will self-isolate.
A spokesman for the prime minister insisted Mr Dutton was not contagious at the time of the meeting,
Mr Dutton said in a statement that he woke up on Friday morning with 'a temperature and a sore throat' but 'feels fine'.
He then 'immediately contacted the Queensland Department of Health' and submitted himself for a test, which came back positive.
The politician had recently returned from a work trip to the United States.
He met with officials from the US, UK and Canada in Washington on March 6 as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing programme.
The decision to introduce the ban from Monday was also agreed upon by state and territory leaders based on advice from Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy.
'There's no immediacy about this, but we need to get ahead of the curve and so the recommendation was Monday and the premiers and the prime minister agreed with that,' Mr Murphy said.
'It wouldn't have mattered if they'd made a decision one or two days either side. It was felt that that was a reasonable time to progress.'
An international Women's Hillsong meet, Colour Conference 2020, is expected to finish on Sunday with thousands due to attend.
A woman is seen wearing a face mask on Friday (pictured) overlooking the Sydney Opera House, as the number of coronavirus cases in Australia reached 200
Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton (pictured in February) has tested positive for coronavirus
The Morrison family have regularly been seen at Hillsong events and attended the opening of the Hillsong annual conference in July last year.
Despite the ban on mass gatherings, Mr Morrison said the government wants people to go about their 'normal everyday business'.
The ban doesn't include schools, university lectures or public transport.
It is hoped the move will be critical to reducing the virus's spread, to prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.
The government is also urging all Australians to reconsider the need to travel at all.
'Only essential travel should be considered if you're going overseas from this point onwards,' Mr Morrison said.
Scott Morrison sent a tweet (pictured) on Friday evening confirming he was not going to self-isolate despite meeting with Peter Dutton on Tuesday
