New COVID restrictions for Sydney as state records new locally acquired case

Mother’s Day will be slightly different this year as Sydneysiders are instructed to follow strict new COVID-19 safety measures this weekend.

A range of new safety measures will be put back in place across greater Sydney after the state posted another two new locally acquired infections on Thursday.

Residents will be required to adhere to the following public health guidelines from 5pm on Thursday until 12am on Monday:

• No more than 20 people allowed inside a home.
• No singing or dancing in indoor venues, including places of worship and entertainment venues – the exception is weddings.
• No drinking while standing up at indoor venues.
• Masks will be compulsory on public transport and in all public indoor venues including retail, theatre, hospitals, aged care and front-of-house for hospitality staff (masks not needed when eating or drinking)
• Only two visitors allowed in aged care facilities.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the measures would only apply to people in the greater Sydney area – from Central Coast, greater Sydney down to Illawarra.

Sydneysiders will need to wear masks in all indoor venues. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

She said it was “business as usual” for anyone outside those areas.

She urged people to “be sensible” in a bid to control the outbreak currently plaguing Sydney.

“Maintain your good social distancing. Make sure you avoid large events if you’re vulnerable and make sure you exhibit good hand hygiene and most importantly make sure, if you have the mildest of symptoms, you come forward and get tested,” she told reporters on Thursday.

“What is really critical to all of us in New South Wales is to make sure that we’re on alert.”

A reporter then quizzed Ms Berejiklian after she urged people to “avoid large events”, questioning why six scheduled NRL games had not been cancelled in light of the outbreak.

To which the Premier replied: “They’re outdoor events. They should go ahead. Outdoor events are low risk. We’re doing this in relation to indoor gatherings which are higher risk.

“I’m happy for people to criticise me or question what we do. But the strongest message we send is business as usual for businesses. From time to time we’ll ask them to wear a mask.

“We’re in the middle of a pandemic. What happens if tomorrow we find 20 cases? People say we haven’t gone hard enough.”

Sydneysiders rush to get tested for COVID. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

A Sydney man in his 50s tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, triggering the urgent response from health officials.

It was initially unclear where the man from Sydney’s eastern suburbs might have contracted the virus, with officials saying he hadn’t travelled overseas recently.

But on Thursday authorities said they discovered how he became infected, but worried there was a “missing link” who was also positive.

The news came after the wife of the man tested positive to the virus as well.

The couple were the first two confirmed local cases of coronavirus in NSW in more than a month.

Genome analysis revealed the likely source of the man’s infection was a person who arrived from the US and attended special health accommodation after testing positive upon arrival in Australia.

Fratelli Fresh, in Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street was added to the virus hot spot list on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

At least two Westfield shopping centres were part of a growing list of coronavirus exposure sites after contact tracing revealed the infected man’s route through Sydney before his positive result was clear.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard urged people to get tested at the more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across the state, including new pop up sites in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

“It is also important to remember that even if you have had your first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine you must still come forward for testing if you have any symptoms,” he said.