WANGARATTA and Corowa saleyards will close to the public on sale days as Barnawartha adopts measures to reduce crowding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Wangaratta Livestock Exchange manager Andrea Nankervis said the sales would be restricted to staff, buyers, agents and carriers for the foreseeable future.
She said the changes were announced at the prime sale at Wangaratta on Thursday.
"We're requesting that producers and the general public stay away until things change," she said.
"It's almost a meeting place for a lot of producers who like to have a chat and a cuppa so we have asked them to take a break for a while.
"A lot of them are in the age bracket most at risk from COVID-19 so public safety is our priority."
On Thursday Federation Council announced that attendance restrictions were now in place at Corowa Saleyards.
"Only agents, buyers, transporters, contractors and staff are permitted to attend the Corowa Saleyards until further notice," it said.
MORE CORONAVIRUS NEWS:
On Tuesday AAM Investment Group announced minor changes to sale days across the Regional Livestock Exchanges (RLX) livestock selling facilities - including Northern Victoria Livestock Exchange - in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
AAM managing director Garry Edwards said the changes aimed to protect the health of anyone who visited the eight RLX sites.
"Our first priority is the health of our staff, users and visitors and we are proactively implementing changes to reduce the risk of exposure whilst in attendance at our network of livestock facilities," he said.
"It means everyone implementing the highest standards of personal hygiene, including washing hands thoroughly and avoiding unnecessary interpersonal contact, and that anyone who is showing symptoms of illness stays at home and accesses livestock sales through alternative means.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"There is absolutely no intention to cancel any sales at this point in time, however we will implement the StockLive system of live-streaming and online bidding across all sales and sites to provide an effective and efficient remote participation alternative to physically attending events."
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