Coronavirus: Mandated NSW rules set to ease from Friday

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the state and ­encouraged workers to return to workplaces.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: Richard Dobson

As Australia entered its 10th straight day with no cases of community transmission on Wednesday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the state and ­encouraged workers to return to ­offices and workplaces.

From 12.01am on Friday, the number of household visitors permitted will increase to 30 and the number of guests allowed at a wedding or funeral to 300, as long as they are fully seated and comply with the 4sq m rule.

Face masks will still be mandatory on public transport and for front-of-house hospitality staff, hairdressers, beauticians and gaming rooms. In retail stores, masks are recommended but no longer mandated.

Up to 50 people at a time can attend outdoor gatherings such as picnics and barbecues.

In more good news for newly-weds, up to 20 nominated people in the bridal party can dance. But no singing, unless you’re in a choir with no more than five people.

For hospitality venues, corporate events and other places of gathering, including places of worship, the one per 4sq m rule applies without any cap.

Ms Berejiklian signalled that restrictions would ease further in two weeks if the state remained on its current trajectory for two cycles of no community transmission. “If we continue current trends, if we continue to see zero cases and reasonable rates of testing, in two weeks all settings that we’ve currently described as being set to the 4sq m rule will ­revert to the 2sq m rule,” Ms Berejiklian said.

 

She encouraged workers to return to the office, with continuation of the mask-wearing rules for public transport designed to inspire confidence it was possible to travel safely into the CBD.

Health authorities believe the Avalon cluster in Sydney’s northern beaches is under control, but are still concerned to ­ensure there is no transmission related to the Berala cluster in the southwestern suburbs.

The big difference from pre-Avalon days, Ms Berejiklian said, was the uncertainty surrounding the more virulent UK and South African variants of the virus increasingly appearing in returning travellers.