Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country will consider easing some of the coronavirus restrictions next Friday.
Morrison met with the National Cabinet and decided along with state and territory leaders to relax restrictions earlier than expected.
“Australians have earned an early mark through the work that they have done, and that decision will now be made on next Friday,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
“We’ll be meeting twice over the course of next week to ensure we could work through the many things that have to be resolved in order to make those decisions,” he said.
Morrison urged Australians to download the COVIDSafe tracing app saying it was a “critical” issue for the National Cabinet in making the decision on easing the restrictions.
About 3.5 million people have so far registered to download the app, but there needs to be millions more, Morrison said.
There are 6,765 cases in Australia, 1,000 of which are still active.
There have also been 93 deaths.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.
But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with mild or no visible symptoms.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
(AP)
