Australia Plans to Start Easing Most COVID-19 Restrictions by July

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison detailed on Friday his government's plan for easing coronavirus confinement measures.

He unveiled that Australia will ease social distancing restrictions in a three-step process, as Canberra targets to remove most curbs by July and get about 1 million people back to work amid a decline in coronavirus cases.

In March, Australia imposed strict social distancing restrictions and closured its borders, which are credited to be the reason for the drastic slowing of the number of new infections of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

With the decline of new infections, which are less than 20 new infections each day, Morrison stated that the Australian states and territories on Friday agreed on a road map to remove most of the curbs.

Morrison pointed out that it will be up to Australia’s states and territories to decide when to begin implementing each stage, which will likely be separated by a four-week transition.

However, Morrison warned that the country should still expect further outbreaks.

Australia eases restrictions in a three-step process:

Australia has had less than 7,000 confirmed cases and 800 infected people. The country's death toll has nearly reached 100 deaths.

Restaurants and cafes, which are currently limited to delivery services, will be reopened with a maximum of 10 patrons at a time, under the first stage of the plan.

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said in a press statement that the step one is tentative, baby steps into normalisation.

If no major outbreaks are recorded, states and territories will move to stage two where gyms, cinemas, and galleries will be reopened with 20 customers at a time.

"At this point, the states that closed its borders would begin allowing some interstate travel," Morrison pointed out.

When implemented, stage three will allow gatherings up to 100 people, as well as allow employees to return to their offices and see the re-opening of nightclubs.

Moreover, all interstate travel will be allowed, along with some limited international travel, including flights between Australia and New Zealand, which provides international students to return to Australia, however, they would face two weeks in quarantine.

More about coronavirus

You must be living under a rock, if you do not know what is Coronavirus aka COVID-19, however, let’s talk about the virus to revisit what we are against.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, its family also includes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Humans and animals such as mammals and birds can be affected by the disease.

The family gained a new member, novel coronavirus (nCoV), which is was never identified in humans.

The name coronavirus is derived from the Latin corona, meaning “crown” or “halo”.

On February 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus is Covid-19, taken from the words “corona”, “virus”, and “disease”.

The first Coronavirus was first discovered in the 1960s, SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 (formerly known as 2019-nCoV) in 2019.

The novel coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than one million people and killed over 234,139 worldwide. It also hit a number of celebrities and top political figures around the world.

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic as the new virus has rapidly spread to more than 800,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

Transmission of viruses between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s secretions, such as droplets in a cough.

They can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.

It is known that older people appear to be more vulnerable to the effects of the emerging virus.

The virus caused complete paralysis in all activities and events with large gatherings worldwide due to concerns over the spread of the virus.

Several Arab countries have tightened restrictions on movement and travel, with the aim of curbing the spread of the Coronavirus, and some have pledged billions of dollars in economic stimulus programs to reduce the economic repercussions of the crisis.

The global pandemic, like everyone around the globe, had infected many famous personalities who have gone public with their results, such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie, and the Universal Music chairman and CEO Lucian Graingem who was admitted into the hospital to be treated for the virus.

Hollywood star Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson were the first celebrities to go public with their results.

The Oscar-winning actor announced the couple’s diagnosis on social media accounts, including Instagram and Twitter, along with a photo of a surgical glove placed inside a biohazard trash bag.

Hanks said that he and his wife came down with a fever while in Australia, where he was set to film his new movie about the life of Elvis Presley.

Furthermore, “James Bond” star Olga Kurylenko, as well as actor Idris Elba and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba have contracted the virus.

The global pandemic has heavily impacted on the entertainment industries at large, with several projects being stalled, along with film and TV shoots, as well as cinemas shut across the US, China, India, and the UAE.