Meetup Guidelines - COVID-19

Today the federal government announced new measures to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus - specifically around non-essential organised gatherings in indoor venues.

Here is the specific advice from the federal Department of Health: Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for public gatherings and visits to vulnerable groups

Indoor gatherings
An indoor gathering takes place within a single enclosed area (i.e. a single room or area). Essential activities such as health care settings, pharmacies, food shopping, schools, workplaces and public transport are not included in this restriction. However, social distancing and good hygiene practices should be applied in these settings.

All non-essential indoor gatherings of less than 100 people (including staff) such as cinemas, theatres, restaurants/cafes, pubs, clubs, weddings and funerals should apply social distancing and hygiene practices. This includes:

• being able to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres between people
• providing hand hygiene products and suitable rubbish bins, with frequent cleaning and waste disposal

This might mean changes are needed to seating or capacity. For example, cinemas and theatres will need to decrease density of patrons, which could include alternate seating, staggered seating and alternatives, except for family or household groups who may be seated together.

Gyms, indoor fitness centres and swimming pools do not need to close at this time — as long as they follow social distancing advice and have good cleaning routines in place.

Public transport is considered essential and at this stage, the 100 person limit does not apply. This will be reviewed regularly. Appropriate social distancing and hygiene practises should be used when travelling on public transport and any non-essential travel should be reconsidered.​

So as of right now, meetups can still take place - but everyone should keep in mind good hygiene practices and social distancing.

On the assumption that further restrictions are likely to be imposed in coming weeks, I have already started setting up facilities for running online meetups to be live streamed, which I will announce shortly.