ENTERTAINMENT precincts and hospitality venues will be able to increase crowd numbers from 9am, next Friday (October 9), says ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman. 

That means all gatherings will be allowed 200 people and hospitality venues with a total usable space of 101sq m and 200sq m can have a maximum of 50 people excluding staff throughout the venue. 

“Alternatively, if they wish to have more than they can continue to calculate the capacity based on the one per four square metres of usable space rule,” Dr Coleman says.  

For cinemas and movie theatres, they will be able to up the seated ticketed patronage by 50 per cent, meaning each theatre can have about 200 people per theatre, Dr Coleman says.

Large indoor venues such as Canberra Theatre and the AIS Arena will be able to have ticketed and seated events at 50 per cent capacity, too – that’s up to 1000 people.  

Closed outdoor venues with permanent tiered seating can operate with 50 per cent capacity for ticketed events, which means they’ll be allowed up to a maximum of 1000 people.

And, the GIO Stadium and Manuka Oval can also up crowds by 50 per cent. 

“Venues must have an appropriate covid safe plan in place for each event,” Dr Coleman says.

“At seated and ticketed events, movement and face-to-face interactions are quite limited and patrons are all facing in the same direction while viewing events and performances. This means that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 is greatly reduced. 

“I would also like to flag that there is one further change that we are currently considering that I will have more to say on next week.

“Subject to a little bit more further assessment, we are examining whether it would now be possible to allow outdoor spaces to have one person per two square metres of usable space, in addition to the changes that I have just outlined.” 

The ACT remains covid-free, and it has now been 12 weeks since Canberra last confirmed case of COVID-19.