Australia earns a lockdown 'early mark': Scott Morrison announces key decision on finally easing restrictions is moved forward to next Friday as 11 of 15 conditions for a return to normal life are fulfilled
- Scott Morrison brought forward meeting to discuss relaxing national restrictions
- National Cabinet meeting will take place on Friday 8 May not Monday 11 May
- Mr Morrison refused to say which restrictions would be relaxed at that time
- Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said mass testing plan was under way
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Coronavirus restrictions will be relaxed from next Friday after Scott Morrison brought forward the date because Australia's infection rate is so low.
The National Cabinet was due to discuss easing the so-called national baseline restrictions on May 11 - but the Prime Minister has shifted this meeting to May 8.
'Australians deserve an early mark for the work that they have done,' he said today.
Coronavirus restrictions will be relaxed from next Friday after Scott Morrison (pictured) brought forward the date because the infection rate is so low
Some states are encouraging shops to re-open after they shut their doors. Pictured: Shoppers in Brisbane on Friday
A closed sign is seen on a H&H store in Brisbane. The National Cabinet will discuss which restrictions will be lifted on May 8
Mr Morrison said he was eager to get Australians back to work as new daily cases remain consistently below 20.
'We need to restart our economy, we need to restart our society. We can't keep Australia under the doona,' he said.
In a positive sign, Mr Morrison said the National Cabinet will discuss 'how conditions can be eased' - rather than whether they can be eased.
But he refused to say which restrictions would be relaxed.
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Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told the National Cabinet that 15 conditions should be met before restrictions could be eased.
The Prime Minister said 11 out of 15 conditions have been met already - but urged more Australians to download the contract tracing app.
'Downloading the app is the main obstacle now,' he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to state premiers at the National Cabinet meeting on May 1
'We need that tool so we can open the economy. So if you haven't downloaded the app yet, download it.'
The conditions focus on testing, contact tracing, and the preparedness of health services.
Under a new mass-testing plan, Professor Murphy said cohorts of people such as health workers, teachers and people having elective surgery would be tested, with their consent, for the virus even if they do not have symptoms.
'We need to test more people. If we are going to get on top of those small outbreaks.
'We cannot afford to have an outbreak that takes off so that we get a second wave when we reduce restrictions such as a number of other countries have seen. So our testing has to be very good.'
Officials presented the national cabinet with guidelines on how to make community and professional sport safe.
The guidelines say athletes should 'get in, train, get out' to minimise unnecessary contact in change rooms and other areas.
They also said parents watching children playing sport will have to observe social distancing.
The Prime Minister also announced a further $205million funding for aged care homes, taking total federal support to $850million.
The biggest aged care providers have agreed to a code of conduct after Mr Morrison expressed concerns some residents were being denied visits.
On Monday Mr Morrison said he 'cannot see' international travel and watching sport in stadiums resuming 'anytime soon'.
The Prime Minister said allowing travel would be too risky while other nations suffer high case numbers - although an exception could be made for New Zealand which has almost eliminated the virus.
'I can't see international travel occurring anytime soon,' he said.
'The risks there are obvious. The only exception to that, as I have flagged, is potentially with New Zealand, and we have had some good discussions about that.'
Australians arrive home at Sydney Airport from Cambodia. International travel will not be allowed for a long time, said Mr Morrison
Mr Morrison listed some restrictions which could be relaxed next.
He said cafes and pubs as well as places of worship could re-open and sport could restart - but going to stadiums is a long way off.
He told Australians to brace for an increase in coronavirus cases as restrictions are lifted.
The Prime Minister said he was willing to see the infection rate increase in order to boost the economy and allow normal life to resume.
He said a country's success in dealing with the virus should not just be measured in terms of the number of cases and deaths.
Success also means 'having protections in place to enable Australians to go back to as normal a life and economy as possible,' he said.
Under the eased restrictions in QLD, outings are limited to members of the same household or an individual and one friend. Pictured: a couple doing boxing training in Burleigh on Saturday
Mr said cafes and pubs as well as places of worship could re-open and sport could restart. Pictured: A cafe in Redfern, Sydney
Those protections include a beefed-up health service, an extensive contact tracing regime with the new COVID-safe app and the ability to lockdown areas that suffer outbreaks.
The Prime Minister said he wanted children to go back to school, Australians to go back to work and businesses to re-open even if it means cases increase.
New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory are relaxing some rules from today.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced residents will be allowed to go for a drive, sit at the beach, have a picnic, visit a national park and shop for non-essential items from midnight on Friday.
Two walkers laugh on Burleigh beach on Sunday morning. Queenslanders will be able to relax at the beach in groups of two when eased restrictions come into play at midnight on Friday
On Friday New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory are relaxing some rules - but Victoria is not. Pictured: A pub in Melbourne before full lockdown
Drivers must remain within 50km of their home.
In the Northern Territory national parks will be open from noon on Friday.
New South Wales will allow two adults and their children to visit friends and family at their homes.
The WA government announced on Sunday that it was increasing its two-person limit on non-work activities to 10, provided people adhere to social distancing and good hygiene.
Picnics, boating, hiking, camping and group exercise are back and couples can now have five more people at their wedding.
But other restrictions related to restaurants, play equipment and travel bans remain in place.
Australia appears to be successfully flattening the curve of the infection rate, encouraging two states to ease lockdown restrictions from Monday
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