coronavirus,

The big hubs of sociability in Canberra were mostly empty on Sunday. Only a month ago, the places where people liked to chat and shop were packed. On the weekend, they were sad shadows of their former busy selves. Those few who did go to the Canberra Centre, the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets and the banks of Lake Burley Griffin obeyed the new rules. They kept their distance - but mostly they kept away. Behaviour was usually good, though two student friends, Rose Corcoran and Rosie Flannery said that cyclists had objected to their ingenious device for maintaining social distance - a stick. They were walking the strict 1.5 metres apart along the lakeside near the National Gallery. They had been using a stick to keep the regulation distance but not any more. "To keep up the social-distancing, we actually have a 1.5 metre stick that we hold and when we go for walks just to be sure that we're being safe," Rose Corcoran said. "But we left it behind today because the bike-riders were getting annoyed at us," her friend said. Others were out beside the lake, including the Penn family - Chelley (mother), Stope (father), Kardel, Kaeden and Kayjana. Father and mother were sparring with each other as exercise while the kids were circling on bikes. "This has become our playground," Chelley Penn said. It was somewhere with lots of space to go to in order to get out of the house. At the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, there was plenty of space to park and no difficulty in keeping distance from other shoppers once you were out of the car. "We're at the markets because it's the only place where I can get the salami I like," said Chris Leslie who was protected (to a limited extent) from the virus by a mask. "It's inconvenient more than anything else but I think if people do the right thing, we'll be OK. "But I'm worried about my old parents." So was Richard O'Rourke whose mother is 96. "She's not letting anyone into her house, I can tell you that," he said. "Hopefully this is not going to go on much longer so it affects our life-styles but we're prepared for the worst. Most people seem to be staying away from each other," A lot of the stores at the market were open - but were anything but crowded - deserted more like. "Very quiet," said Bill Doan at Ocean Fresh Seafood. There was a large amount of unsold fish. The inability to judge how much would sell was a big difficulty for fresh-food retailers, he thought. The Canberra Centre was also sparse with people - and so with spending power. Some shops were closed but the supermarkets and some clothes shops were open, all dressed up with nobody to spend. Restaurants sold takeaways. Lines for pies formed in a nice orderly fashion, each customer keeping to the newly-installed cross on the floor signifying 1.5 metres. Chairs had been removed. It was all a bit disappointing for one family who had headed to Canberra for the first time because their church in Sydney was closed. Milly Tuisalega thought that Canberra was "nice" but she and her family were disappointed at the lack of KFCs. They had been to Parliament House and found it closed. The family have Samoan and New Zealand backgrounds and think that Australia is lax compared with the strict way other countries are trying to stop the spread of the virus. Nobody was talking about how long the shops can keep going devoid of customers but the throng has gone, taking its money with it.

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