This afternoon the Federal Government outlined its three-step plan to reopening Australia, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison hoping that the majority of Australia will be reopened in July.
Step one.
The first step will see the reopening of cafes, restaurants, churches, libraries, and even outdoor boot camps for fitness.
However, there will still be a restriction of 10 people that can visit these establishments during the first step.
This means that many restaurants and cafes may still not reopen during this stage and the drive throughs operated by the likes of Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF) and takeaway deliveries from Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) may remain the norm for a little longer.
State governments will decide when stage one commences, but South Australia and Queensland have both given the greenlight in their respective states this afternoon.
Step two.
Stage two is arguably when life will begin to get back to normal for Australians. When the government is comfortable to move to this step, gatherings of 20 people will be allowed.
At this point beauty salons, gyms, cinemas, and galleries will be allowed to open for business again.
This will be good news for cinema operator Event Hospitality and Entertainment Ltd (ASX: EVT) and gym chain company Viva Leisure Ltd (ASX: VVA).
Step three.
If everything goes to plan the government will then push on to step three, which will allow gatherings of 100 people.
This will allow the reopening of food courts, nightclubs, and bars. In addition to this, interstate travel is expected to be operational by then, giving a boost to domestic tourism and travel companies such as Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB).
The National Cabinet intends to review things every three weeks in order to see what impact the changes have on coronavirus infection numbers. It has warned, though, that if there is another outbreak, we could go back to square one again.
