Yesterday afternoon Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the COVID-19 pandemic measures put in place already will continue for at least the next four weeks.
Restrictions and measures set at national and state levels remain unchanged. They require the continuation of physical distancing, closures of many types of businesses and the requirement that everyone stays home unless employed in essential jobs, exercising locally or providing care.
Government COVID-19 Restrictions
The PM has also set out three conditions that need to be met before restrictions are eased. These are broader testing, better contact tracing and improved ability to contain outbreaks.
Where can bike riders cycle during COVID-19?
Bike riders have already helped. By rapidly moving from group riding to solo or pairs only, and keeping rides local you have helped reduce the spread of infection and your exposure to other people.
This helps you and your family stay healthy. It reduces the strain on your local hospital, increasing the available health resources to treat everyone, and it makes the job of tracing virus spread and controlling infection easier.
Your awareness of other bike riders, if you need to drive, helps improve the safety of others as they travel to essential jobs or deliver food to people self-isolating. Some parks have gone car-free and councils are considering whether to re-assign road space to bike riding to help reduce congestion.
Bicycle NSW has been working with a range of stakeholders to explore these options, in ways that support health measures and work state-wide. Our email and social media traffic makes it clear there are different issues and challenges to be considered, but that riders are doing their best locally at this difficult time.
“Thank you to everyone working hard to make these pandemic measures a success, so we can all get back to normal riding soon,” said General Manager of Public Affairs, Bastien Wallace.
“It’s been great to hear from so many people getting back on the bike to commute safely and exercise locally,” said Bastien.
More families teaching children to ride and more bike-based travel is great news for NSW. Encouraging your neighbour or family to dust off the bike, and sharing our resources is a great idea but we will all need to look out for families and new riders who might be a bit wobbly.
