With LaTrobe MP Jason Wood
Australia is a self-sufficient nation. That is why panic buying and rushing our supermarket shelves are unwarranted and unnecessary. We have enough for everyone, and we are not going to run out of food.
We need to take reasonable steps to protect fellow Australians from spread of coronavirus, so can I request everyone to look after the elderly as they are the most susceptible to falling ill.
We need to work together to help stop the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
To protect people most at risk and slow the rate of community transmission:
* Non-essential organised gatherings should be kept to fewer than 500 people
* Non-essential meetings or conferences of health care professionals and emergency services should be limited
* Reconsider if you need to visit residential aged care facilities and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
From midnight Sunday 15 March, all travellers coming into Australia will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
Social distancing is important because Covid-19 is most likely to spread from person-to-person.
Social distancing includes ways to stop or slow the spread of infectious diseases.
It means less contact between you and other people, through:
* Direct close contact with a person while they are infectious or in the 24 hours before their symptoms appeared
* Close contact with a person with a confirmed infection who coughs or sneezes, or
* Touching objects or surfaces (such as door handles or tables) contaminated from a cough or sneeze from a person with a confirmed infection, and then touching your mouth or face.
So, the more space between you and others, the harder it is for the virus to spread.
If you are sick, stay away from others – that is the most important thing you can do.
You should also practise good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene:
* Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, before and after eating, and after going to the toilet.
* Cover your cough and sneeze, dispose of tissues, and use alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
* And, if unwell, avoid contact with others (stay more than 1.5 metres from people).
As well as these, you can start a range of social distancing and low cost hygiene actions now.
These simple, common sense actions help reduce risk to you and to others. They will help to slow the spread of disease in the community – and you can use them every day – in your home, workplace, school and while out in public.
* Avoid handshaking and kissing.
* Regularly disinfect high touch surfaces, such as tables, kitchen benches and doorknobs.
* Increase ventilation in the home by opening windows or adjusting air conditioning.
* Visit shops sparingly and buy more goods and services online.
* Consider whether outings and travel, both individual and family, are sensible and necessary.
In households where people are ill (in addition to the measures above):
* Care for the sick person in a single room if possible.
* Keep the number of carers to a minimum.
* Keep the door to the sick person’s room closed and, if possible, a window open.
* Both the sick person and the people caring for them should wear a surgical mask when they are in the same room.
* Protect other vulnerable family members, such as people over 65 years or people with a chronic illness, including, if practicable, finding alternative accommodation.
In the workplace:
* Stay at home if you are sick.
* Stop handshaking as a greeting.
* Hold meetings via video conferencing or phone call.
* Defer large meetings.
* Hold essential meetings outside in the open air if possible.
* Promote good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene and provide hand sanitisers for all staff and workers.
* Take lunch at your desk or outside rather than in the lunch room.
* Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly.
* Consider opening windows and adjusting air conditioning for more ventilation.
* Limit food handling and sharing of food in the workplace.
* Reconsider non-essential business travel.
* Promote strictest hygiene among food preparation (canteen) staff and their close contacts.
Consider if large gatherings can be rescheduled, staggered or cancelled
In public:
* Sanitise your hands wherever possible, including entering and leaving buildings.
* Use ’tap and pay’ rather than handling money.
* Try and travel at quiet times and try to avoid crowds.
* Public transport workers and taxi drivers should open vehicle windows where possible, and regularly clean and disinfect high touch surfaces.
From Monday 16 March, the Australian Government advises that non-essential gatherings should be limited to less than 500 people; and non-essential meetings of critical workforces such as healthcare workers and emergency service workers should be limited.
For more information about public gatherings, go to the information on public gatherings at www.health.gov.au/covid19-resources
