
Mamamia’s What You Need To Know series breaks down the big news stories for you in easy-to-understand terms. We’re not ‘dumbing it down’, we’re just providing the context that can so often be lost in today’s fast-moving and never-ending news cycle. Today, we break down the 'traffic light’ system that could help reopen Australia.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is getting restless.
Australia's state and territory leaders remain strict in their lockdowns along border lines, but after the death of an unborn baby in Ballina on NSW’s north coast when a mother had to travel to Sydney instead of Brisbane for emergency surgery, he's adamant that things have to change.
"Australia was not built to have internal borders, in fact the very point of federation was not to have them," Morrison told a Bush Summit in Cooma on Friday.
Watch: The Project explains the traffic light system. Post continues after the video.
It's understood health experts are just days away from finalising a new lockdown criteria that will help Australia reopen internally.
Here's what we know:
What is the 'traffic light' system?
It was a system first recommended after the 2003 SARS outbreak, which is now being used across Denmark.
In Denmark, a region is considered safe and 'green' if there are fewer than 20 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants in a week.
A 'green light' area means there's low and contained COVID-19 levels and the region is open for business, with travel permitted between green zones.
A region shifts to amber when more than 30 people per 100,000 inhabitants contract COVID-19 in a week, and comes with some level of lockdown and travel restrictions.
The area is declared red if cases continue to escalate and comes with heavy lockdowns and restrictions.
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