Freedom plan for fully vaccinated proposed in NSW

Proposal would see bars, restaurants and gyms reopen to fully inoculated once vaccination coverage reaches 70 per cent.

Restaurateur Kate Jones will offer takeaway to ‘keep the lights on’ in Orange, western NSW. Picture: Graham Schumann

Bars, restaurants and gyms would reopen to the fully inoculated once vaccination coverage across NSW reaches 70 per cent, under a proposal drawn up by government ministers and awaiting sign off from Gladys Berejiklian.

Businesses are unlikely to ­receive a September reprieve from the current NSW lockdown under the plan, which is expected to be finalised and announced next week.

Instead, individuals are likely to be the beneficiaries of low-risk ­adjustments to restrictions, with the state’s chief psychiatrist, Murray Wright, making assessments and submissions to the government for some rules to be eased over the next six weeks.

These are likely to include an expansion of the existing “singles bubble”, and other measures, but they are unlikely to apply to Greater Sydney’s 12 local government areas of concern, where the virus remains concentrated.

The NSW Premier has stopped short of detailing the road map, ­despite again raising the prospect of lifting some restrictions as vaccination rates rise.

Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Christian Gilles

“NSW is up to 5.5 million jabs. When we get to 6 million jabs, those that are vaccinated will have the opportunity to do something that they can’t do now,” she said.

Australia reported its highest number of new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, with a record number of local infections – 681 – in NSW.

With 757 cases reported across the country, including three ­overseas-acquired cases, the total exceeded the 747 infections reported at the peak of the Victorian lockdown in July 2020.

But Thursday was also a record day for vaccinations, with 309,000 doses administered. More than half of all eligible Australians have now received at least one dose.

Under the NSW proposal, restaurants and other venues will be reopened with alfresco dining, ­capacity restrictions and other limitations once vaccination coverage reaches 70 per cent. That is expected in early October.

 

To enter these venues, individuals will have to produce a ­commonwealth-assigned vaccination certificate, which will be synchronised with Medicare records and available via an app.

The Australian has been told that Ms Berejiklian is likely to ­announce a return of face-to-face schooling from term four, which begins on October 5, although this has not been finalised. An official said the term would begin as vaccinations approached 70 per cent.

Nightclubs are unlikely to be reopened until the state reaches 80 per cent vaccination coverage. Consuming food and beverages while standing, or “vertical consumption”, as it is termed by officials, is unlikely to return until much later in the year.

Once NSW reaches 80 per cent vaccination coverage it is expected that non-vaccinated individuals will be able to access most venues, although these details remain ­unfinalised and subject to change.

Ms Berejiklian has already been involved in a number of meetings with colleagues to discuss the state’s road map for exiting the lockdown, although she has been publicly circumspect.

The deliberations come as business leaders become increasingly concerned about post-pandemic planning across the country, with News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller penning an open letter urging for a clear path forward for opening the economy. The Australian is published by News Corp.

People wait to be vaccinated in Sydney. Picture: AFP

A government official said any easing of restrictions was unlikely to occur before the state reached a 70 per cent vaccination target. As of Thursday the state counted 29.3 per cent of its population as fully vaccinated, with 55.2 per cent having received at least one dose.

The proposal to reopen NSW has gone through a number of drafts. It was originally indexed to case numbers during the first few weeks of the delta outbreak. By mid-July it became clear this strategy was no longer viable, resulting in a pivot to vaccination targets.

Ms Berejiklian has previously suggested that restrictions could be eased in regions where vaccination coverage was high and case numbers were reported to be low, but this has encountered resistance from some of her colleagues.

Officials co-ordinating the exit from lockdown opted against that proposal because it stood to reward unvaccinated ­individuals living in areas with high vaccination coverage; it would also inconvenience residents who had been vaccinated but lived in areas with lower coverage.

On Thursday the state began another significant scale-up of Covid-19 vaccinations in 12 Sydney local government areas with the highest numbers of infections.

“The next few weeks will be hard, but no doubt that once we get those high vaccination rates life will feel much better, it will look much better,” she said.

Scott Morrison. Picture: Gary Ramage

In a bid to keep driving the vaccine program and cover younger people considered peak transmitters of the Delta variant, Scott Morrison said federal cabinet had agreed Pfizer doses would become available for 8.6 million Australians aged 16 to 39 from August 30.

The Prime Minister said he expected to receive interim advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation within a week about opening up vaccines for children aged 12 to 15, which he hoped could happen before the end of the year.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, in a briefing with local media, said restrictions on the regional would lift from August 28 depending on whether Covid-19 was present in those areas.

Local government areas without any traces of Covid-19 in their sewage, or cases in the community, would be eligible for consideration, provided they did not share a border with an area of concern, Mr Barilaro said. “And I’m confident as of next Saturday, or the following ­Monday, children will be resuming school in regional rural NSW,” he added.

Orange restaurateur Kate Jones, who initially hoped she could just shut down for a week to “ride out the storm”, said she would start offering takeaway to “keep the lights on”. “We had all hoped it would only be one week, but it’s not the case,” she said.

With lockdowns and restrictions costing the economy $2bn-a-week and the commonwealth administering $3bn in disaster payments, Josh Frydenberg signalled a swift rebound when infections were contained and vaccinations increased. Writing in The Australian, the Treasurer said achieving the national cabinet’s target of 70 to 80 per cent vaccine coverage was “now in sight”.