Australian Chief Medical Officer Professor Murphy said evidence is growing that the majority of COVID-19 transmission occurs indoors and also said “There’s an absolute risk about gathering size”.

Each state in Australia will implement these stages at different times and slightly differently, but here are the broad brush-strokes:

Stage 1: Allowing five visitors in private homes and 10 visitors in businesses and public places. Restaurants, cafes, retail, libraries, community centres, playgrounds and exercise boot camps will be allowed to open and resume. Travel within states for non-essential reasons will also be allowed.

Stage 2: will allow gatherings of up to 20 people, as well as the opening of gyms, beauty shops, cinemas, galleries, amusement parks, caravan parks and camping grounds.

Stage 3: will let people gather in groups of up to 100, and see the opening of nightclubs, food courts and saunas. There may be the possibility of travel to New Zealand.

These changes will be reviewed every three weeks by national cabinet to assess the impacts and when to move to stages 2 and 3.

Dr Lachlan Soper