It was announced today that the ACT lockdown is extended until midnight Friday 17 September 2021 after the territory continues to record locally acquired cases of COVID-19.
The six essential reasons you can leave your home during this lockdown remain:
- to buy essential groceries and medicine
- to access essential healthcare including in-home care
- for essential work
- to exercise outdoors for one hour per day in your region
- to get a COVID-19 test
- to get a COVID-19 vaccinated.
Masks will continue to be required at all times upon leaving home, including in workplaces, for anyone aged over 12.
Due to the higher transmission risk of indoor spaces, and the risk of spreading COVID-19 within households, gatherings in the home – including in outdoor areas – are still not permitted.
While the government confirmed that remote learning would continue for the majority of students for term three, a number of other restrictions have been eased and some businesses will be able to return to work.
These amendments will come into effect from 5:00pm this Thursday, 2 September 2021, and include:
- one household (any size) or up to 5 people can gather outdoors for up to 2 hours for exercise or non-organised recreation.
- outdoor playgrounds will reopen where people can maintain physical distancing. Enclosed playgrounds will need to apply the one person per four square metre rule.
- the number of people able to attend a funeral increased to no more than 20 people (excluding the people necessary to conduct the funeral).
- the number of people able to attend a wedding increased to no more than 10 attendees (excluding the celebrant, but including persons being married and two witnesses).
- other religious ceremonies which are time critical are permitted to go ahead with no more than 10 people (excluding those conducting the service).
- the recommencement of services that operate outdoors and where physical distancing can be maintained, such as outdoor maintenance and gardening and dog grooming services.
- ACT schools will continue with remote learning for the rest of Term 3. All ACT public schools and Early Childhood Education and Care services, including out of school hours care, will remain open for children of parents and carers who cannot work from home and vulnerable children.
There will also be a staged reopening of the construction sector under stringent COVID safe requirements from Friday 3 September 2021.
To find out more information about the current restrictions in the ACT, please visit ACT’s COVID-19 website.
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COVID-19 Business Support Grants expansion rollout
As businesses continue to lose trade from the extension of lockdowns, The Commonwealth and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Governments have worked together to expand the COVID-19 Business Support Grants with the extension of the ACT lockdown to 17 September.
Reflecting the extension of the lockdown, the one-off ACT COVID-19 Business Support Grants will be increased by $10,000 for employing businesses and $3,500 for non-employing businesses where those businesses’ turnover has declined by 30 per cent or more as a result of the COVID-19 health restrictions.
Businesses must be able to demonstrate their primary operation in the ACT, have an annual turnover of more than $75,000, be registered for GST and have a total payroll of less than $10 million. They will also need to provide evidence of a 30 per cent reduction in their turnover.
Anyone who has made an application does not need to make a new application – the new payments will be automatically applied if you are eligible. First payments are likely to be made in the coming days.
Businesses can find further information and apply for the grants here. This information is being updated throughout the day to account for the increased grant payment size.
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