A review of all public spaces across the ACT has been ordered by the Chief Minister in the wake of new measures controlling gathering restrictions now in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Announcing the review, Chief Minister, Andrew Barr said it would start immediately, examining all public spaces where gatherings may be occurring and closing them down.
“If they are on Commonwealth land, then we will be asking the Federal Government to do the same,” Mr Barr said.
He also strongly urged Canberra’s citizens to avoid non-essential travel outside the Canberra region, in line with advice given to Australians in other States and Territories.
“These are significant decisions that we are taking,” Mr Barr said.
“We know that avoiding non-essential travel outside of the region will be difficult, and it will severely impact on the quality of life of Canberrans,” he said.
“However, there should be no greater priority for our community than to work together to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
He said that with the number of cases in the ACT continuing to rise, Canberrans needed to look at the global situation to realise the consequences facing Australia if it cannot ‘flatten the curve’ of the virus.
“Under this instruction, the only travel outside of the Canberra region should be for work, for ‘compassionate’ reasons and to ensure essential supplies and services,” Mr Barr said.
“We are urging Canberrans to take a commonsense approach to this instruction, and carefully consider whether they have to travel outside of the region for any of these reasons,” he said.
