Coronavirus: A bridge not far enough for Sydney northern beaches Christmas

It’s the tale of an idyllic peninsula, split in two on Christmas Eve, by a raging global pandemic.

Mia Allanson, front, and her bestie Lily Boyle relax on the lagoon near Narrabeen Bridge on Sydney’s northern beaches. Picture: Sam Mooy

It’s the tale of an idyllic peninsula that has been split in two on Christmas Eve by a raging global pandemic.

From midnight on Wednesday, an invisible line was drawn across Narrabeen Bridge, slicing Sydney’s northern beaches into two lockdown zones.

“It’s definitely weird,” said Mia Allanson, 16, as she sheltered in the shadow of the Narrabeen Bridge, out of the glare of the blazing December sun.

“I’m stuck on the Avalon side, and my family are Cronulla way, so I guess we won’t be seeing them on Christmas.”

Her best friend Lily Boyle is more upbeat: “Grandma just makes it into the North Narrabeen side,” she told The Australian as she floated on the lagoon.

“So that’s a plus, but at the moment we have seven guests (for Christmas) so I’m not sure what we’ll do about that.”

As of Christmas Eve, those who live north of the bridge and east of the Baha’i Temple have found themselves completely cut off from the rest of Sydney. They will remain under the most restrictive conditions that any part of NSW has experienced since April.

Up to five visitors, including children, will be allowed in homes from December 24 to 26, provided they are also from the northern region of the northern beaches — the epicentre of the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

“We’ll be cut off from my nan,” said Archie Earland, 16, as he loaded surfboards and fishing rods into a tin dingy at Narrabeen Lagoon.

“She was coming over here from Mosman,” he said. “She’s pretty good at looking after herself, but she is in her mid-70s so she’s pretty disappointed.”

Further south of the dividing line, the mood was more festive. Couples left Dee Why Shopping Centre armed with boxes of champagne, holiday hams and last-minute Christmas presents.

By early afternoon, the queues outside fresh seafood shops in Manly rivalled even those outside the COVID-19 testing clinics.

Seven infections were added to Sydney’s northern beaches cluster on Wednesday, taking the outbreak’s total to 97. The daily numbers have progressively grown smaller this week.

It prompted Premier Gladys Berejiklian to announce that the southern part of the northern beaches would join Greater Sydney from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, with residents allowed to invite 10 guests into their homes — not including children under the age of 12.

While people living in this region, including Manly and Dee Why, can host people for Christmas lunch, they may not leave the northern beaches.

“We don’t want people from the northern beaches mingling in other parts of Sydney at this stage, but you can welcome people in,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Northern beaches mayor Michael Regan acknowledged that Christmas would be “hard work” for residents in lockdown.

“We were optimistic that we might get the 10 person rule and we all kind of hoped that we would be able to have Greater Sydney welcomed back,” Mr Regan said.

“I think it is important for those around the country to know, there are probably about 70,000 residents north of Narrabeen Bridge.”