Australian PM says ‘stay at home’ as coronavirus shuts down large sections of economy and social life
Prime minister Scott Morrison announces real estate auctions, beauty parlours, weddings and funerals hit by new rules as most overseas travel banned
Large sections of the Australian economy and social life will be shut down from midnight on Wednesday, after the national cabinet agreed to a range of further restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings in addition to a ban on non-essential overseas travel to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.
But despite the range of further restrictions, Scott Morrison said the national cabinet would not “just rush on the sense of an opinion of inevitability” towards a full lockdown, because measures to contain the spread of the virus may yet prevent it and more severe action would threaten the livelihoods of many Australians.