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CANBERRA, Australia – Australians have been chastised for not complying with social distancing guidelines more stringently, and will now face sweeping changes that will put much of the country out of business.

All restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, nightclubs, casinos, licensed clubs, cinemas, gyms, indoor sporting venues, churches and places of worship nationwide have been ordered to shut down as of Monday.

The premiers of all states and chief ministers of the country’s territories (Northern Territory and ACT) are on board with the drastic action which was announced to Australians on Sunday.

New South Wales, the most populous state which houses the most populous city of Sydney, is going a step further, similar to one taken by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday. The state is expected on Monday to order the closure of all non-essential businesses throughout the state.

Australia’s two national carriers Qantas and Virgin have already cancelled all international flights, while domestic routes and frequency of flights have also been slashed. All national sporting competitions but for the NRL have been suspended. The NRL is considering re-locating all teams to the Queensland city of Gladstone, in a bid to to soldier on. If it doesn’t, it faces the loss of TV and Pay TV rights. Whether the entities that own those rights, the Nine Network and Foxtel, can continue to pay for them given the partial collapsing of the Australian economy, and even more so, the diminution of already-sliding advertising revenues, is another matter.

Images of an overcrowded Bondi Beach went viral on Saturday prompting an immediate shut-down of the beach. Other beaches in Sydney have since been closed as well.

Prime Minister Morrison stressed that, despite the sweeping changes, there is no lockdown planned. “We are not putting in place lockdowns that put people and confine them to their home. That is not a measure that has been contemplated at this point. So there is no reason for anyone to do that,” he said Sunday.

The prime minister said the government was aiming to keep schools open, partly because closures would mean health workers, including doctors and nurses who have children at school would have to stay home to look after them. Medical advice is that there is a low risk of children contracting COVID-19 while at school. Mr Morrison said 30% of the health force could be lost to the greater community if schools were to close.

The state of Victoria will close for Easter early, shuttering its schools on Monday, however they will re-open after Easter.

Shopping malls will remain open, as will bottle shops (which sell liquor). Accommodation providers including hotels, motels, serviced apartments and backpackers lodges can continue to operate their accommodation wing, but any licensed bars have to be closed.

The drastic moves follow a decision by the government that ‘the public wasn’t doing the right thing.’

“People have not been getting the messages and we’ve recommended unanimously that these fairly dramatic and drastic recommendations be put in place because we have to stop those situations where viruses pass readily,” Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said Sunday.

“We’ve had some events in Australia where 35 people have picked up the virus from one particular function.”

“We cannot allow this sort of spread to happen.”

“We’ve seen some irresponsible behaviour from people who were told to quarantine and have not, and they have spread the virus,” the chief medical officer said.

“You are putting your fellow Australians at risk if you break that rule so please, every one of us has to do our bit.”

“We have to save our vulnerable Australians from what could be, and we’ve seen this in other countries, fairly devastating impacts if we get a widespread pandemic in this country,” Professor Murphy said.

The prime minister warned that if the public did not co-operate then the states would go even further.

“If there is not a broad co-operation in the population, states will have to take more severe measures,” he told ABC TV on Sunday night.

“People cannot be cavalier about these things. They must take them extremely seriously because lives and livelihoods are at stake, the prime minister added.

“But the more social distancing we do, the less severe the economic impacts have to be.”