'Ridiculous': Huge crowds on Mother's Day weekend spark fear of second wave

Mother’s Day might have gotten the better of shoppers across the country who were snapped ignoring social distancing rules this weekend.

Shopping centres around the country were photographed with hordes of people looking for the best deals on Saturday amid a sense of optimism with restrictions slated to be relaxed.

One man posted a photo to Twitter of shoppers packing Westfield at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east.

“I think people have forgotten social distancing still applies and ran out of clothes in isolation,” he tweeted.

People were filmed shoulder to shoulder at a mall in Doncaster, in Melbourne’s northeast.

Meanwhile a woman called crowds at Chadstone in the city’s southeast “ridiculous”.

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Chrissie Maus, general manager of Melbourne’s Chapel Street Precinct Association said crowds had “stormed” the area over the weekend.

“While foot traffic has been down 85 per cent compared to this time last year, on Saturday, foot traffic was only down 45 per cent,” Ms Maus said in a statement given to Yahoo News Australia.

“This gave our retailers hope, but also highlighted the difficulty of maintaining social distancing as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

“After weeks locked up at home, swarms of people rubbed shoulders and mingled on Chapel Street outside shops, sparking concern about a second wave of COVID-19.

“Our traders are doing everything in their power to help protect and gain customer trust, but we remind patrons that they must do their part and observe social distancing requirements.”

Large groups of shoppers were seen in West Australia too, prompting further concerns that people have brushed aside calls to social distance.

“We’re going to see a spike in COVID-19 cases and a second wave. You can’t just ignore restrictions because you’ve had enough or you think they’re going to be lifted soon,” one man posted on social media alongside images of big shopping crowds.

Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy warned Australians on Sunday afternoon not to hang around crowded shopping centres.

“We have also seen pictures of people crowded in shopping malls, in other circumstances, where they have not been observing the social distancing norms that are part of our new way of behaving,” he said.

“So regulation can achieve things, but every individual can do more than regulation, by behaving in a way that is respectful of social distancing norms.”

Mr Murphy said it was better to simply leave if shopping centres become too crowded.

“So if you are going to a shopping centre to buy something, go and buy something, but don't hang around the shopping centre for half-an-hour mingling for no purpose. Go home,” he said.

“If you are arriving at a shopping centre and you find a crowd at an escalator not wanting to practise social distancing or crowding together, don't go in. Leave. Come back later.”

‘We will never be business as usual’

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian pleaded with people on Sunday not to get complacent.

“It concerns me when I see images of people not maintaining social distancing,” she told reporters.

“Every retailer, every customer, every person out and about has to have responsibility and maintain social distancing because all the ground we've gained will be lost if people get too complacent.

“They assume it is business as usual, which it's not. We will never be business as usual.”

South Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer Mike Cusack said on Saturday social distancing and other measures remained vitally important to avoid a surge in the number of virus infections.

This was after crowds were pictured ignoring restrictions in Adelaide on Saturday.

"We could well understand after a period of lockdown, that people would want to get out," Dr Cusack said.

"But clearly the more we have people bunched together the more opportunity the virus has to jump from person to person.

"That effectively increases the risk of further outbreaks in the state."

with AAP

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