NSW Covid lockdown: Hospitality booking caps scrapped at 80 per cent

Melbourne Cup lunches, early Christmas parties and group celebrations are back on after a big change was made to hospitality restrictions.

The cap restricting group bookings in hospitality venues will be scrapped at 80 per cent vaccination rates, allowing friends to book at table at the pub in unlimited numbers.

Venues will still need to abide by density limits.

Between the 70 per cent and 80 per cent targets, rules restricting bookings to 20 will remain.

Busy restaurants, such as this on in Circular Quay in February,are set to become a common site again. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

Capping group bookings at 20 people was not included in the original roadmap but revealed when the state government announced its plans for what would be allowed at the 80 per cent threshold.

Asked about the booking cap on Wednesday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian hinted at a potential change when 80 per cent vaccination was achieved.

“It’s still important between 70 and 80 per cent to ensure that we prevent any virus spreading,” she said.

“Because between 70 and 80 per cent, we do still need to exercise caution.

“If 20 people don’t necessarily know the 20 people sitting next to them, there’s less likely to be mingling between the two groups,” she said.

But she backed the cap as part of “finding the right balance of providing freedom and business reopening with not overwhelming our hospital system”.