The health, safety and wellbeing of Tasmanians remains our number one priority as we continue to face the challenges of coronavirus.

Today I have accepted the recommendation of the State Controller to extend Tasmania’s State of Emergency until 26 October to protect against the threat of a COVID-19 emergency occurring in Tasmania.

This will also allow further time to review the ongoing threat posed to Tasmania, particularly from Victoria but also other states.

At the end of October we will conduct a review for the appropriate course of action dependent on the situation at that time as we move towards 1 December - the date we will look to relax our borders.

I would like to take the opportunity to once again thank the outstanding efforts of our State Controller Darren Hine and Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch and their teams who have worked tirelessly to support Tasmania’s response to COVID-19.

I want to reassure Tasmanians that we are doing everything we can to protect our state against a second wave, and urge everyone to continue to do the right thing, to follow the rules, practice good hygiene, maintain appropriate social distancing and abide by the COVID-safety plans in place.