COVID-19 Pandemic Report

As we all know the situation regarding COVID-19 Coronavirus continues to change daily, but yesterday the stark reality of the potential duration of the impacts of the pandemic was made clear by Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and ’s Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy.

In announcing the latest raft of measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Scott Morrison warned these measures were likely to be in place for at least six months, while Brendan Murphy stated that Australians should expect “disruptive and intrusive” measures to be imposed for the same period of time, perhaps longer.

The most relevant measure announced by the Prime Minister yesterday which has the greatest impact on Clubs relates to non-essential indoor gatherings:

Indoor gatherings

An indoor gathering takes place within a single enclosed area (i.e. a single room or area). Essential activities such as health care settings, pharmacies, food shopping, schools, workplaces and public transport are not included in this restriction. However, social distancing and good hygiene practices should be applied in these settings.

All non-essential indoor gatherings of less than 100 people (including staff) such as cinemas, theatres, restaurants/cafes, pubs, clubs, weddings and funerals should apply social distancing and hygiene practices. This includes:

• being able to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres between people • providing hand hygiene products and suitable rubbish bins, with frequent cleaning and waste disposal

This might mean changes are needed to seating or capacity. For example, cinemas and theatres will need to decrease density of patrons, which could include alternate seating, staggered seating and alternatives, except for family or household groups who may be seated together.

Gyms, indoor fitness centres and swimming pools do not need to close at this time — as long as they follow social distancing advice and have good cleaning routines in place.

Public transport is considered essential and at this stage, the 100 person limit does not apply. This will be reviewed regularly. Appropriate social distancing and hygiene practises should be used when travelling on public transport and any non-essential travel should be reconsidered.

Please note that social distancing is critical. It does not matter how big your venue is or how small, you must ensure that there is space around people, enough that they can comply with the 1.5m rule.

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Rugby League

A special meeting of the (NSWRL) Board has agreed to postpone all Community Rugby League until at least 1 May 2020, effective immediately, while all major NSWRL competitions have been suspended until 31 May in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NSWRL Chief Executive David Trodden said the recommendation covers all Rugby League matches, trials, training, courses and other club activities in NSW and is made with the health and wellbeing of players, coaches, staff, officials and volunteers and the broader community as a paramount consideration to assist in slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Community Rugby League, which involves more than 100,000 grassroots players across NSW, from Under 6s to open age, was due to kick-off on 4 April, but will now be delayed until at least 1 May.

NSWRL’s 13 major competitions, most of which started last weekend, with the exception of junior representative competitions which kicked off in February, have been suspended until 31 May. The later date will allow teams to train and prepare earlier in May if Community Rugby League is cleared to resume.

These competitions include: Canterbury Cup NSW, Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership, Cup, , Newcastle Business Plaza Cup, Shield, UNE SG Ball Cup, Laurie Daley Cup, Harvey Norman , UNE , Andrew Johns Cup, Women’s Country Championships and Men's Under 23s Country Championships.

NRL matches will continue at this stage, but will be played in empty stadiums.

Golf

Golf NSW has been determined that the following events be postponed until further notice:

• Women’s Grade Pennant • NSW Sand Greens Fourball at Walcha • Metropolitan Major Pennant Semi Finals and Relegation matches • Metropolitan Major Pennant Finals • NSW Senior Foursomes Medal at Orange • NSW Senior Championships at Orange

Club events will continue at this stage.

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Lawn Bowls

Bowls NSW has advised that all bowls events be suspended for an indefinite period, effective immediately.

This relates to all association events, competition events, club events and tournaments and includes social bowls events.

Anzac Day

From RSL NSW:

Following further discussions with the NSW Government, RSL NSW has made the decision to cancel all public ANZAC Day commemoration services across the state. The risk to vulnerable people during the current health situation is simply too high for these events to continue in their traditional format.

Given the significant concerns around the spread of COVID-19, it would be irresponsible to allow such large gatherings as we see each year on ANZAC Day to go ahead. This is not a decision we have taken lightly. The RSL has a responsibility to act in the best interests of veterans and the general public. In these uncertain times we must follow the advice of medical experts and do everything we can to protect the community.

This is recognition of the penalties linked to events over 500 people, and the potential exposure to RSL sub-Branches. This acknowledges the fact that most ANZAC Day events are open to all members of the community and therefore have the potential to attract crowds of over 500 people.

ANZAC Day as a marker of our respect and admiration for ANZACs past and present will still be observed. Exactly what form this will take will be different from previous years, but as custodians of commemoration, the RSL will still honour the service and sacrifice of our brave servicemen and women.

The Club Industry

The Club Industry faces its biggest ever challenge during this pandemic and beyond.

We will be speaking with our valued Corporate Partners, who cover the wide range of club Operations, to provide continual information and advice for your Clubs during these challenging times.

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