COVID-19: Updates for NSW and QLD
/The following contains updated advice for both QLD and NSW. For NSW, please see below. General guidance for all states is also provided at the end.
Queensland:
Summary: Teams in the Brisbane City LGA should operate under Step 1B restrictions, while teams in the Sunshine Coast LGA should operate under Step 3B restrictions with a maximum of 30 people per event, under new QLD Government restrictions.
Under guidance from the QLD government released in late July, QLD has been operating at Step 3B, in line with full contact community sport being permitted amid a low number of new COVID-19 cases.
While the Queensland Quidditch Association and Quidditch Australia were hopeful for QLD moving to Step 4 and being able to resume full games and competitions, recent minor flare ups have resulted in new restrictions being put in place by the QLD State Government for select parts of the state (Local Government Areas, LGAs).
At the time of writing, this particularly affects all teams based in the City of Brisbane LGA, where outdoor gatherings have been restricted to a maximum of 10 people, effectively limiting quidditch to Step 1B restrictions.
At the time of writing, the Sunshine Coast area is not affected by these strict conditions, however, the whole rest of Queensland has been restricted to a maximum of 30 people for outdoor gatherings. As such, teams located on the Sunshine Coast will be allowed to continue at Step 3B, with the stipulation that trainings occur with a maximum of 30 people, not 100.
These government restrictions are up for review in early October, and QA/QAQ will be following proceedings closely. While QAQ have suspended league play for the rest of 2020, we remain hopeful that QLD will be able to return to Step 4 at least in some parts if not all of the state before the end of the year, allowing locally organised friendlies, small competitions, or internal leagues to run under COVIDSafe plans.
You can find out more information about the restrictions here.
You can find specific advice on return to play guidelines from the Queensland Government here. This gives excellent general advice regarding physical distancing and hygiene requirements, and industry specific guidelines on how best to conduct sport in a COVIDSafe manner.
You can also find quidditch specific advice in the Quidditch Australia Resumption of Play Plan here.
New South Wales:
Summary: NSW will return to Step 3B restrictions starting Thursday 10th, provided cases in NSW in particular from the CBD cluster and Inner West continue to remain low; this will be confirmed on Wednesday evening. Players should train within one of four bubbles, based on geographic location of the team: Newcastle, Sydney, Greater Sydney, Canberra.
In late July, NSW moved back from Step 3B to Step 2, in response to growing concerns about rising case numbers in the state due to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak, which was in close proximity to a number of teams and a planned tournament. Quidditch NSW and Quidditch Australia held concerns that NSW could be going down the path to a second wave like Victoria, and made the decision to tighten restrictions on contact trainings, number of teams people could train with, and number of people at trainings by moving back to Step 2.
Thankfully, the NSW Government's response has been substantial enough to maintain case numbers at a relatively low and consistent rate over the past month, largely in the teens and never higher than the 20s, with a recent dip back into single digits. Given this, QNSW and QA have been discussing how to reduce restrictions again for NSW teams, and under what circumstances we may be able to see games or tournaments of some variety later in the year.
In doing this, we have considered the following:
From July 1st, the NSW Government has permitted the resumption of community sport, where any gathering that involved more than 20 participants must have an active and accessible COVID-19 Safety Plan.
From August 19th, The NSW Government Office of Sport have supplied the following recommendations (expected to remain in place until around the end of September):
Activities involving the mixing of teams from different regions of NSW should cease
In-person social activities relating to community sports should cease, especially those held indoors
More (see link above)
Recent days have seen a small uptick in cases again due to a new emerging Sydney-CBD based cluster. With a number of other cases emerging in this area and others such as Sydney’s Inner West, these are of particular concern to QA/QNSW given the proximity of many local teams training locations and members to these areas.
Given these factors, Quidditch Australia and Quidditch NSW have agreed on the following:
Step 2 Restrictions will remain in place until Wednesday 9th (2 weeks from the outbreak of the CBD Cluster).
On Wednesday, QNSW and QA will appraise the number of new cases, and if the daily number of new cases and community transmission rate continues to remain low, NSW will return to Step 3B restrictions.
Going forward, under Step 3B restrictions, NSW teams will operate under a number of training bubbles, based on where teams train and which teams already have significant overlap in attendees, in line with NSW Government guidance. Players will be able to attend trainings only of teams in their bubble. These will be made of:
Greater Southern Sydney: Wollongong, Illawarra, Weasleys, Horntails
Sydney: Valkyries, Serpents, Nightmares, Eastern Sydney Universities (UNSW and UTS), University of Sydney, Macquarie University.
N.B. Newcastle and ANU will remain in isolated bubbles under this model.
These restrictions will be reassessed at the end of September, as more government advice is released. If cases continue to remain low or diminish further, it is likely that we will be able to move to Step 4. However, if advice to minimise mixing of teams from different regions persists, it is unclear how NQL style events will be able to occur. Nevertheless, a move to Step 4 restrictions would allow teams in their own local areas to organise smaller scale games, friendlies, and localised tournaments. The feasibility of this will be assessed based on the COVID situation towards the end of September.
All Teams:
Should remind players that, especially as restrictions ease, that anyone who experiences any cold or flu like symptoms or comes into contact with a confirmed or suspected case should immediately get tested and self isolate, and not attend quidditch events until tests return negative and symptoms subside.
Should ensure they keep records of who attends all of their events and ensure contact information is readily available for all attendees.
Should ensure they have a Covid Safety Plan as per their local state’s requirements in place, that all their players are aware and familiar with the plan, and that this plan is submitted to Quidditch Australia (sent to admin@quidditchaustralia.org).
Should maintain strict hygiene measures during trainings, including making hand sanitiser readily available and ensuring it is used before, during and after the training; ensuring equipment is shared as little as possible; ensuring any shared equipment such as balls, brooms, etc. are regularly sanitised both during and between trainings.
Should review advice in the Quidditch Australia Resumption of Play Plan and remind members of the instructions and requirements within.