Prime Minister
DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister, thank you for joining us today. Look, we want to get true, true facts today. But just quickly, this. What happened with the footy over the weekend, sort of the, the change of heart so quickly, the shaking hands, not shaking hands, going to footy, not going to the footy. Is that, did that create confusion?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're acting on medical advice, David and that's simply what we're always doing. There was no medical advice that said that the mass gathering bans were coming in place on the weekend and I was acting in course with the medical advice. I think there was a reaction to that. So I chose not to go. I mean, I think these issues, David, frankly, now are quite you know, they are not the essential issues we are focussing on.
DAVID KOCH: Let's get to the facts now. There are the toughest restrictions Australia has ever had on arrivals into this country. How will you ensure passengers follow the rules?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry, David. There was a cut in on the question there from someone on the call.
DAVID KOCH: The restrictions on people coming into Australia, arrivals into the country. You've got to self isolate for 14 days. How will you ensure those passengers follow the rules?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's exactly what has been happening. Up until now, they've been voluntary, those self self-isolation arrangements. And people have been doing them. Australians have been following those rules. And now they will be backed up by the force of state and territory laws. So Australians are doing the right thing here. I mean, what we're seeking to do here, David, as I explained yesterday when I showed those graphs, is we're looking to flatten that curve. We're trying to take the spread of the virus down from a peak level of presentations, which would put undue stress on the health system. And so by doing things like the increasing social distancing. So, yes, the medical advice is now that there should be no shaking of hands, that we should always be exercising that cough etiquette into a handkerchief or into your elbow. We should be ensuring that we're washing our hands very regularly and that we should be very careful about our engagements around the elderly and the vulnerable. And where we can do it, it's not always practical, but about a metre and a half is the recommended social distancing we should be practising.
DAVID KOCH: So those graphs you're talking about, if I can sort of get you to explain simply. If we, if we really crack down on it now, short, sharp, it means the spread of severe cases goes over a longer period and our hospitals can cope. If we don't crack down now, short and sharp, then the cases will be a lot higher and maybe hospitals don't cope.
PRIME MINISTER: That's exactly right. And the actions we're taking now, particularly say on the mass gatherings, is well ahead of the rest of the world, who entered into these types of arrangements when they had far more many cases than Australia does. I mean, the clock that ticks here is actually the number of cases you have and spread. It's not the actual clock. There are many countries because they didn't take, I suppose, the actions we did earlier on going back to January, which meant we had a very slow start to this and we're seeking to make sure we keep that. And the National Cabinet, which met for the first time ever yesterday. Now, for the first time, that means Federal, State governments completely coordinated on things that go across the state/federal divide. Now, when it comes to mass gatherings, that's important. So previously, there wasn't legislation that would enable this social isolation, sorry, social quarantining to be enforced by law. That's now being done by the states. And I really appreciate their support and their cooperation.
DAVID KOCH: Now, if you’re picking up someone from the airport who's come from overseas, do you then self-isolate with them? And what about, sort of, I don't know, taxi drivers, Uber drivers that take these people home?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I mean, it's a very, very low risk. Anyone who presents with symptoms or things of that nature, they will be issued with personal protective equipment. And advice on testing is pretty clear. You'd have to be in contact with someone who actually had symptoms, or 24 hours before they had symptoms, and you're actually showing symptoms yourself. That's the clear medical advice. And I think it's important, I know there's a lot of things for people to know at the moment, but it's all on the health.gov.au website, the information campaign is there.
DAVID KOCH: It’s really good too.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. It’s about slowing the spread, as I said, to open the beds.
DAVID KOCH: Yeah, I know you’ve got to get another interview, just quickly, senior Australians. Should they, like I've got an eighty five year old mum. Should she be self-isolating now? We're not taking the grandkids to visit her and stuff like that. Should she be pulling herself into self-isolation? Or if you've got parents in a nursing home or retirement village, should they be closing?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, right now, the medical expert panel is considering particularly the latter issue in terms of how we limit the number of visits into nursing homes, and we'll receive that advice very soon. The National Cabinet is meeting again on Tuesday evening and we'll be making decisions on those issues. But for the more elderly, the more vulnerable in the community, then a full self-isolation is not being recommended but obviously being more careful than the rest of the population. And I think you're right, David, not having as many people around, limiting those contacts, but they don't have to cut off. The other thing I heard, and this is a great move by one of the supermarkets today. I mean, they're actually now providing particular times when more elderly people, pensioners and things can go to the supermarkets. Common sense. Great idea. Well done. Let’s all look after each other and be respectful to each other and help each other out.
DAVID KOCH: And you've got to look after yourself, you’re sounding a bit croaky and snuffly, is that from talking too much?
PRIME MINISTER: A lot of meetings, a lot of meetings, David. But I can tell you, I’m feeling absolutely fine. There's a lot of work to do and everyone's working well together. And I want to thank those in the media who are getting important factual information out there. We need more information, less opinion, I suppose, at the moment.
DAVID KOCH: Exactly. And also from the government, too. I love Singapore doing the cartoon strips for kids to follow and things like that. I think maybe we need a bit more of that as well to keep us informed.
PRIME MINISTER: Well we’ll keep upgrading our communications campaign. I actually spoke to the Singaporean Prime Minister last night. He was actually due to be here later in this week. We're now going to have our meeting done virtually. And we'll be signing documents in digital to do those things. So business and government can carry on even through the midst of all of this.
DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister, we really appreciate your time on a very busy morning. Thank you for joining us. Thanks, David.