Your guide to all the changes as raft of SA coronavirus restrictions ease from Monday

A “massive” easing in restrictions will start on Monday, with SA once again able to drink while standing up and enjoy gatherings with up to 50 people.

A raft of restrictions will ease on Monday in a “step closer to being COVID normal”.

Under the new changes, which come into effect on December 14, standing-up drinking will be allowed inside all licensed premises.

The capacity of home gatherings will be lifted fivefold, to 50 visitors instead of just 10.

The cap on private functions, weddings and funerals will jump from 150 guests to 200 people.

Play gyms will reopen, while gyms can operate at half capacity, with a one person for each 2sq m density allowed.

The one person for each 2sq m density rule also will apply to churches.

Seated entertainment venues, such as cinemas and theatres, will lift from half to three-quarter capacity – if patrons wear masks.

The use of QR codes will be expanded, with retail stores required to use them as of December 14.

Working from home is no longer mandated and masks need only be worn at high-risk spots.

Premier Steven Marshall announced the new rules earlier this week, as the state was declared COVID-19-free for the first time in more than two months.

Mr Marshall hailed the “massive changes” after a “very, very tough year” but the state was now the “envy of much of the rest of the world at the moment”.

“I want to really congratulate every single person in South Australia,” he said.

“We stared down this cluster, we stared down the second wave in South Australia.

“And now we’re all going to be the beneficiaries in the lead-up to Christmas from the fantastic work that every South Australian has put in.”

SA Health’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the state would continue with its requirement of mask wearing around vulnerable people or high risk groups, such as at hospitals, allied health and aged care facilities, despite the restrictions easing next Monday.

Nina Calabrese and her children Eva and Luca are looking forward to having gatherings of up to 50 people in a private house. Picture: Matt Turner.

However, wearing a mask in any other settings, such as in supermarkets or department stores, will be at the discretion of the individual.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, in his role as state COVID co-ordinator, authorised the changes after taking economic, social and health advice at Tuesday’s Transition Committee.

Further easings are planned for the new year, such as increases to crowd numbers and density levels, in what Mr Stevens said was closer to “COVID normal”.

“We see this as a significant step towards COVID normal but we do think there are some other things that we’ll try and introduce probably early in the new year,” he said.

Masks will only need to be worn at high-risk spots. Picture: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images