New South Wales has recorded eight new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 overnight, seven of which are linked to the Northern Beaches cluster.
Due to the relatively low amount of new cases, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there would be "modest" changes to restrictions over Christmas.
There will be no changes to regional NSW over Christmas.
https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1341536333106298881?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Greater Sydney restrictions
Those in Greater Sydney will be allowed to have 10 people in their home plus any number of children under the age of 12 on December 24, 25, and 26.
From December 27, the number of people allowed in one household (including those under the age of 12) will revert back to 10, regardless of age.
Northern Beaches restrictions
Special considerations are also being made to those in Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Despite the area being in lockdown, those within the region can have up to five residents in their home on December 24, 25 and 26, as long as the guests are also residents of the local government area.
Like the rest of Greater Sydney, those restrictions will revert back to normal lockdown procedure on the December 27.
"If you're a resident of the northern part of the Northern Beaches, if you live north of the Narrabeen Bridge and east of the Baha'i Temple at Mona Vale Road, you cannot leave your area. You are still in lockdown," Ms Berejiklian said.
"You can't accept anybody outside your community and I apologise for that but we have to maintain a lockdown in that area with one exception.
"On the 24th, 25th and 26th, you're allowed to have five people into your home but they must be people from within that region."
Why the restrictions were eased over Christmas
The decision to give three days of relaxed Christmas restrictions to Sydneysiders was made in part to alleviate mental health concerns for the community.
Ms Berejiklian said the government was weighing up the risks posed by COVID-19 against those of other health dimensions, such as mental health.
"They're modest tweaks and modest changes to account for the fact that everybody has had a very difficult year and some people's stress levels and mental health capacity is already at breaking point," Ms Berejiklian said.
"If we had the case numbers we had a few days ago and the trend wasn't where it is, then what we'd be saying today would be very different."
Source of Northern Beaches cluster still unknown
The source of the Northern Beaches outbreak is still unknown, Ms Berejiklian has confirmed.
"We still don't know how the virus got into the Avalon cluster," she said.
"We don't know how the virus got into the community and we want to make sure that there aren't strains or lines of community transmission that we haven't found yet."
READ MORE: Close contacts of infected Melbourne teen test negative
INTERACTIVE: The state of COVID-19 in Australia
Service NSW QR code system to become commonplace
From January 1, 2021, businesses across NSW will be expected to use the government's own QR code system in an attempt to speed up contact tracing.
This includes all hairdressers and all hospitality venues.
"From 1 January our expectation is that all hospitality venues, plus hairdressers in particular, will have the Service NSW QR code," Ms Berejiklian said.
"It takes about two minutes to download.
"Our expectation is a week after that that all other organisations and businesses who require record-keeping also revert to the Service NSW QR code.
"This is part of our armoury in defending our community against the virus."
Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak by the numbers
Today's announcement of eight new cases has taken the Northern Beaches cluster to 97.
Here's a breakdown of how the outbreak has been handled by the numbers.
NSW new COVID cases December 23: 8
Total cases (Avalon cluster): 97
Amount of tests in past 24 hours: 41,865 (following from a record 44,466 yesterday)
Total number of cases in NSW since pandemic begun: 4616
Deaths in NSW from COVID-19: 55
Total tests: More than 3.8 million
You can get up-to-date information from the Federal Government's Coronavirus Australia app, available on the App Store, Google Play and the Government's WhatsApp channel.
Beyond Blue's Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service is a 24/7 service free of charge to all Australians. Visit the site here or call 1800512348
For coronavirus breaking news alerts and livestreams straight to your smartphone sign up to the 9News app and set notifications to on at the App Store or Google Play.
from 9News https://ift.tt/2WFYGGs
via IFTTT
0 Comments