The ACT’s COVID-19 restrictions will be eased from midnight tonight to allow for gatherings, both indoor and outdoor, of up to 10 people.
When gathering in groups, physical distancing – keeping 1.5 metres apart and maintaining the one person per 4 square metre rules – must always be maintained.
Exceptions will be in place in the rare circumstances where more than 10 people usually reside in a household.
There will also be an allowance for larger families to meet where one household visiting another household results in more than 10 people in the premises.
For those larger families coming from a maximum of two households, the one person per 4 square metres and 1.5m physical distancing must be maintained.
A small number of changes to the operation of weddings, funerals, boot camps, open home inspections and real estate auctions will also be introduced from midnight.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the announcement comes on the back of the Territory’s “COVID-19 testing blitz”, which has shown little evidence of undetected cases in Canberra.
“The ACT can join other State and Territory Governments in relaxing some of the most stringent measures currently in place.
“With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, many families will be looking forward to gathering together under these new restrictions,” Mr Barr said.
He said the ACT Government will have more announcements in relation to business and community COVID-19 restriction changes in the coming weeks.
“As has been clear in the framework, this is not that everything starts on day one of step one, and we do need to give notice.”
Mr Barr said all of the areas covered in step 1 of the Federal Government’s three-step plan will be focused on in the coming weeks.
“Part of stage one response over the coming weeks, all of those items in the national frameworks will be ones that we will consider and move on at our pace,” he said.
Mr Barr warned that this easing of restrictions on gatherings is not a licence to gather all your mates and “party”.
“House parties with people from multiple households could undermine all that we have achieved,” he said.
Older Canberrans and those more susceptible to respiratory conditions are also advised to continue exercising caution and limiting their interaction with other people.
Further details on these changes are available from the ACT Government’s COVID-19 website.
