Fact check: Did Australia announce a lockdown for a period of 6 months?

CLAIM:

Australia is under lockdown for 6 months

RATING:

False

"Australia lockdown for 6 months rumour" was initiated by?

• When UK officials spoke about the possibilities of a 6-month lockdown in the country, the news of Australia facing the 6-month lockdown also came along. 
• Some Australian officials also mentioned the possibility of undergoing a 6-month lockdown if people don't take the COVID-19 infection scare seriously. 

Republic World did a fact check on the Australia lockdown for 6 months rumour

• However, Australia has NOT imposed a 6-month complete lockdown as of now, but they talked about a possibility of it to happen depending on how the medical data changes within a few weeks. 
• Australia started observing some restrictions in the country starting from March 23.
• All the non-essential services including pubs, cafés, indoor sport locations, bars and worship places were ordered to be closed.
• This was done in the wake of Australians not observing proper social distancing measures and were even seen flocking to Bondi beach, going to restaurants and even bars. 
• Victoria and South Wales states recorded a high number of COVID-19 positive cases.
• Morrison stated that the health challenges that they are facing are one of the toughest situations Australia had had to face since World War II and people should prepare for a complete lockdown for  6 months if the medical data forces them to take such actions.
• Currently, services like supermarket, pharmacies, freights and retail will still continue to be operational during this time. 
• PM said that the state and territories will take their respective control regarding the food markets.
• Local authorities were recently seen dispersing people who were crowding the streets. 
• Different states are taking specific precautionary measures where western Australia and South Australia were seen tightening their border restrictions on March 21-22.
• Recently, Myer announced that it will close down stores and work with a specific number of staff members amidst coronavirus infection scare.
• In Australia, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients currently stands at 3166 on March 27.

 

 

Currently, all the measures are being taken to ensure that the country is prepared for a future lockdown if people don't follow social distancing rules. A medical company has even started producing surgical masks in bulk to comply with the needs of the people ahead of a possible lockdown. 

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Google trends analysis of the rumour

Take a look at the Google trends after a number of people misunderstood the 6-month lockdown news in Australia. The spike in the number of people who want to know the truth about the news exploded on March 27. 

Image courtesy: Google trends

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Related queries that people search for

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Australian PM advocates people to follow self-isolation rules 

Image Courtesy: Scott Morrison Twitter

Scott Morrison's speech about travel bans

Image courtesy: A still from Scott Morrison's interview regarding forced self-quarantine

• Australia bans all foreign nationals from entering the country starting midnight today until it is safe to remove the travel bans. 
• Only Australian nationals and residents and their family members would be allowed to enter the country while they need to follow the 14-day quarantine rule, failing which they could also face jail time and a fine as well.
• Reportedly 170 Australians from all over the world are still out of Australia and are in need to come home.
• The PM has mentioned a new set of guidelines on Wednesday where all the public locations are still open but they are being restricted and advised to follow social distancing guidelines.
• Morrison also mentioned that the schools will restart after their term break, after which distance learning could also be followed.
• People are advised to avoid travelling overseas because when they come back, they put the existing citizens of the county in danger.

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