Restaurants in Canberra could be open by the end of the week.
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The ACT government has been talking to groups in the industry about a move towards allowing dining places to open from Friday as long as they maintain the 10-diner constraint ordered by the federal government.
No formal decision has been announced because the matter has to go through the ACT government's cabinet but a decision to open is expected.
A spokeswoman for ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said that more announcements were expected soon. "We will be outlining more in the coming week," she said on Sunday.
There is pressure to follow NSW after Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that restaurants across the border will open from Friday.
It is not clear how many restaurants would open on either side of the border, with questions over how financially viable it would be due to the limited number of diners allowed inside.
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"Allowing 10 people in a one-person-per-four-square-metre distance in small cafes and restaurants means many won't be able to open," chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said last week.
On Friday, Mr Barr said a maximum of 10 people could gather inside or outside a home in time for Mother's Day on Sunday.
But cafes and restaurants would remain closed for all dine-in customers.
It is not clear if that decision was for the foreseeable future and the ACT has been wrong-footed by the NSW decision, or whether it was a holding statement pending this week's cabinet meeting.
Mr Barr has expressed caution about relaxing rules too soon, and said on Friday that his government needed to consult hospitality businesses before loosening rules relating to dining in.
"So for all those activities that relate to the business sector - we will give notice," Mr Barr said.
"I think we can anticipate some sector engagement in the coming week, and then notice of change."
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
