OUTSIDE BANS TO EASE FIRST

Restrictions on outdoor activities could lift by next weekend

RESTRICTIONS on outdoor activities could be lifted as soon as next weekend under Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s nation-leading coronavirus lockdown exit plan.

The Sunday Territorian can reveal extra detail of what a “new normal” dry season could look like for Territorians, with a plan to be released as soon as tomorrow.

It is understood outdoor activities could be allowed first, just in time for the May Day long weekend.

The move is likely to please sporting businesses, which have been calling for restrictions, like those on golf and bootcamps, to be lifted.

One personal trainer remarked she couldn’t understand why children’s sport was still cancelled when they were allowed to play in the playground together at school.

Mr Gunner revealed his “business before borders” strategy to reopen the NT in yesterday’s NT News, with businesses expected to come online from the end of May.

But Chamber of Commerce NT chief executive Greg Ireland called the timeline “conservative” and said while he understood the Government needed to take “all due care”, businesses would prefer to reopen as soon as the Territory notched 28 consecutive days without a new COVID-19 case.

It will be three weeks tomorrow since the NT’s last confirmed case.

Mr Gunner will meet with Mr Ireland and his chamber colleague Karen Sheldon tomorrow to discuss how business can reopen safely.

“I’m continuing to take (the Chamber of Commerce’s) advice. We both agree we need to do this once and do it right,” Mr Gunner said.

“The threat of corona remains real – we don’t have a vaccine yet and we must not relax our guard.

“I have done whatever it takes to make the Territory the safest place in Australia. The mission now is to keep it that way.”

The “gradual easing of restrictions” will come with specific conditions, like a limit on the number of people in an establishment and strict cleaning protocols.

The NT Government will put in place rapid response measures to “test, trace and trap” future outbreaks of COVID-19, with plans to significantly ramp up testing and contact tracing.

If the Territory successfully exits lockdown without sparking a surge in cases, it will be the first jurisdiction in the world to do so.