Lockdown restrictions eased further in NSW

NSW hit the full vaccination target a week earlier than expected, and 91.9 per cent of people aged 16 and over have now received at least one dose.

A week after stay-at-home orders lifted and fully vaccinated people were allowed back at NSW pubs and beauty salons, people in NSW who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are from Monday able to play community sport and have a dance at the pub, and are allowed to do it with larger groups of people.

Students in grade 12 and grade one, as well as preschoolers, will also return to classrooms, ahead of other grades that are due to return next week.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said there will be “teething issues” with the return to school “but those challenges do not outweigh the importance of getting kids back in the classroom”.

Outdoor gatherings of up to 50 fully vaccinated people are now permitted, and up to 20 visitors are allowed in a home, provided everyone over the age of 16 is vaccinated.

You can once again stand up while drinking and even have a dance in most hospitality venues, but not yet nightclubs, which are allowed to reopen so long as people sit down while they drink and don’t dance.

A 100-person cap on weddings and funerals has been lifted.

A five-person cap at hairdressers and beauticians is now gone too.

Office workers are no longer required to wear masks at work, but they’re still required in other indoor areas such as on public transport or in a retail shop.

Mr Perrottet said his state had “a bright summer ahead” but that “this is not going to be an easy time”.

“As we know, as we open up, cases will increase. Hospitalisations will increase … I am confident that as a state we will come together and get through it,” he said.

The lifting of restrictions only applies to people who have been fully vaccinated at this stage, but will be expanded to everyone in December.

On Sunday, NSW recorded another 301 cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths.

Australian Associated Press