We are declaring a state of emergency in Victoria under
the Public Health and Wellbeing Act.
That state of emergency will be effective from 12 noon today
and will run for four weeks.
It is likely that that state of emergency will be extended and will be in place
for as long as it needs to be.
So under the state of emergency that has been declared,
it is an offence under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to not comply
with the orders that have been made.
And those orders in the first instance relate to that mandatory,
it's not optional in any way, mandatory home quarantine
or at a hotel if you were not a resident.
Now that is a proportionate and appropriate response.
We cannot be certain given how much this virus has run in the US,
in parts of Europe, in many other parts of the world,
the status of those people returning is most uncertain.
And in order to limit the spread of this virus, that is an appropriate response.
The second part of yesterday's discussion, indeed this was a key feature
of Friday's discussion at COAG's in Sydney, was banning non-essential large gatherings,
gatherings of over 500 people.
All we're talking about here is sporting events, cultural events,
events that a club or an association might run, all of which are not essential.
Big conventions, for instance, at the Melbourne Convention Centre
or other similar venues.
If they are over 500 people and they are not essential and there are
clear definitions about that, then they are not to go ahead.
There are significant penalties for event organisers who fail to comply
with that order.
I would just say, though, we don't anticipate having to be fining people
To this point, people have been co-operative,
people have been, I think, acknowledging of the fact that we are all in this together
and following advice.
Doing the right thing is in your interest, your family,
every family across our state.
So I'll make a couple of broader general points.
Firstly, these are not an absolute.
These are not designed to have zero new cases.
In effect, nothing we do can deliver that outcome.
This is about, as everything we're doing, is about flattening the curve.
If we can flatten that curve, then we can prevent our health system,
essentially being overrun by critically ill patients.
Not just covid-19 patients, but of course all those other patients every day of the year
who need support for strokes and heart attacks for very urgent surgery,
so on and so forth.
The second general point I want to make is that whilst it is perfectly appropriate
for people, when it's advisable for people to when they go and do their shopping,
buy a few extra staples, the basics, it is not appropriate to go and buy
three or four weeks or even months worth of shopping from A to Z
on your normal shopping list.
All that means is those who are more vulnerable, people who can't go
to four different supermarkets to get what they need will miss out.
We have got care packages.
We will get those to you in the event that you run out of those basics.
Please exercise some good judgment, some common sense,
and let's all be considerate of those in our community who are more vulnerable.
Finally, we are in this together and we're at our best when we work as one.
The government has a plan.
The government and all of its agencies are working hard.
And with your help we will get through this.
Advice will change because that is the nature of a public health emergency.
We will continue to be direct and frank and as clear as we can be
and always warn the community that whilst the advice and the settings
are relevant and important for today, this is dynamic. It will change.
We see that in our state and we certainly see it in other parts of the world.