Coronavirus two-person rule: what we know about this and Australia's other social distancing measures

Extract from The Guardian

Coronavirus outbreak

Scott Morrison tightens restrictions, but how they are applied will vary state by state

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus email
• Follow live global coronavirus updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Matilda Boseley

Mon 30 Mar 2020 12.50 AEDT Last modified on Mon 30 Mar 2020 18.41 AEDT

Social distancing in practice outside a cafe at Cronulla mall in southern Sydney, Australia. Scott Morrison has announced a tightening of the rules and limited gatherings to a maximum of two people. Photograph: Simon Bullard/EPA

On Sunday night the prime minister announced the tightening of restrictions to try to stop the spread of Covid-19, limiting gatherings to a maximum of two people.
But Scott Morrison didn’t go into details on exactly how this applies to everyday life, and it appears rules could vary from state to state. Here is what we know so far.

What did Morrison say?

This is what the prime minister said at the press conference:
“Advice has now been strengthened to say that [guidelines] should be reduced to two persons in public spaces and other areas of gathering.
“Unless it’s your household, the family, those who are living at your residence, that being with only one other person as a gathering outside is what is required. That provides, importantly, for those who may be getting daily exercise, particularly for women, that they wouldn’t be required to walk on their own and they’d be able to walk with another person.

“It’s your household, so your household can be together inside your home, outside your home, outside of your household. If you were out … just on the street today, you could be there with everyone who’s in your household. But if you weren’t with the members of your household, you could be there with one other person maximum.”

Are these recommendations, or enforceable by law?

What Morrison announced on Sunday are technically just recommendations endorsed by the national cabinet. The federal government is leaving it up to states to decide if and how they will enforce them.

This means each state could have slightly different laws and the penalties for not complying will vary.

So far Western Australia and Tasmania have said they will be enforcing the new limits, while Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory have gone further.
Queensland has announced a state of emergency, and along with enforcing the two-person limit, residents are now only allowed to leave their home for one of eight essential reasons. These are, to obtain food or other essential goods or services, to receive media care, to exercise, to go to work at an essential business, to visit a terminally ill relative or attend a funeral, to care for immediate family members, to attend court or to go to childcare, school or university. Police can issue fines for non-compliance.

In a statement the Australian Capital Territory chief minister, Andrew Barr, said the ACT would also enforce the two-person limit and, as in Queensland, residents can only leave their home for certain essential reasons. The statement said ACT police officers would be issuing a warning in the first instance if a person did not comply. It did not specify what the penalties would be.
The NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, said NSW would have new laws regarding the two-person limit in place by Monday night and foreshadowed that police would be on the streets to enforce them.
A spokesperson for the NSW Premier’s office later confirmed to Guardian Australia that fines could be issued to individuals who leave the house for a non-essential reason. But they said it would be at the discretion of individual police officers to decide who would be fined.
They could not clarify what evidence citizens would need to provide to prove why they had left home, saying this would also be left to police judgment.
It’s understood that Victoria will be moving to a similar system.
On Monday morning Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, said the state had officially moved into “stage three” and would make the two-person limit legally enforceable from midnight.
“If you are having friends over for dinner or friends over for drinks that are not members of your household, then you are breaking the law,” he said at a press conference. “You face an on-the-spot fine of more than $1,600 and Victoria police will not hesitate to take action against you. That is how serious this is.”

Tasmania will do the same, with premier Peter Gutwein saying those who do not comply will be arrested and charged.
WA premier Mark McGowan was expected to announce similar laws on Monday.
So far only the Northern Territory announced it would not be enforcing the new rule. Its chief minister, Michael Gunner, said it would stick to the 10-person limit for now but would bring in stricter laws if people did not follow social distancing rules.
“If the police need to go around enforcing a lower limit, they will, but we expect territorians will do the right thing and save our police the time and hassle,” he said.

Do they apply inside private homes or just in public places?

Morrison primarily spoke at the press conference about the restrictions in relation to public spaces, but they also apply inside private homes.

They do not apply to members of your household, however, so family units and groups of roommates can still spend time together and even go outside as a group.
Federal guidelines suggest that no matter how many people are in your home, you are allowed a maximum of one additional person over as a guest at a time. However, in states enforcing “stay at home laws”, the guest would have to be visiting for an essential reason.
Technically, if a household is out together in public they can also have one additional guest with them, but this isn’t recommended, and again varies based on state.

What if a family is split across two households?

The federal government has recommended that these laws do not apply to families that are split across households.
For example, if a mother and a child live separately to a father and another child, they would still be allowed to visit each other, despite being over the two-person limit.
However, it is important to note this applies only to immediate family members – that is, children and their guardians.
It appears generally this rule does not apply to adult children.
The new rules around families and visitors have created some confusion and Guardian Australia has approached state premiers with a series of questions about allowable scenarios. This piece will be updated as we receive responses.
A spokesperson for the NSW government said this was still under deliberation.

Are there different rules for those over 70?

The federal government has strongly recommended that anyone over the age of 70 should go into self-isolation. That means not interacting in person with anyone outside their home and leaving the house only if absolutely necessary.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, also stressed this in a press conference on Monday.
“Especially to our older Australians, the older people, if you’re over 70, you shouldn’t leave home at all,” she said. “I know this is difficult and I appreciate that for some parts of the day, people might want to get out and exercise. That is OK, so long as you don’t come into contact with anybody else.”
However, for the time being, this would remain a recommendation and those who did not comply would not be fined or penalised.
The prime minister also recommended those over the age of 60 with chronic illness and Indigenous people over 50 do the same.

What about weddings and funerals?

Each state will enforce their own rules on this, however, the federal advice is that weddings and funeral be exempt, with the current limits still applying.

This means no more than five people at a wedding, and generally no more than ten at a funeral.