The Northern Beaches Area Is Being Split Into Two Zones with Different COVID-19 Restrictions

Since 5pm on Saturday, December 19, Sydney's northern beaches suburbs have been under stay-at-home orders, as part of the New South Wales Government's efforts to stop the area's growing cluster of locally acquired COVID-19 cases. The requirement for folks in the region to remain at home other than for one of four essential reasons was given a target end date, though, of midnight on Wednesday, December 23 — but Premier Gladys Berejiklian has just revealed that the restrictions won't simply be coming to an end.

Instead, on a day that saw seven new cases linked to the cluster diagnosed in the past 24 hours, Premier Berejiklian revealed that the northern beaches will be split into two zones — and each will have different rules. At her daily press conference, the Premier advised that the area will be divided into a northern and southern section, using the Narrabeen Bridge and the Baha'i Temple as a boundary. The north half extends north from the bridge and east from the temple, while the south half obviously spans in the opposite directions.

For those in the north — which sounds like something that'd be said in Game of Thrones, not in reality — the current restrictions remain in place for the foreseeable future, with no end date currently given. That said, there is a very slight change coming into effect from Thursday, December 24–Saturday, December 26. Folks will be able to have five visitors over including kids during those three days, as long as their visitors live in the peninsula zone. Accordingly, leaving the house to visit people in the area will be added as a fifth reason to head out — alongside work if you can't do it from your house, for essential shopping, for exercise and for compassionate reasons (which includes emergency medical treatment or to visit an isolated relative).

This change is only in effect until midnight on Saturday, December 26. Come Sunday, December 27, no visitors will be allowed again, with the rules reverting to the present current stay-at-home conditions. And, during the three-day reprieve, people can't enter or leave the northern beaches' northern zone — so it's only folks within it that can interact with each other on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

In the lower half of the northern beaches, residents can have ten visitors plus kids from Thursday, December 24–Saturday, December 26. That does include folks from the rest of Greater Sydney, too — but not from the peninsula zone in the north. If you live in the southern part of the northern beaches, though, you can't leave your house unless it's for one of the original four reasons, or to visit someone else in the same northern beaches area. As for what happens afterwards in this zone, the government has said that it will make an announcement on Boxing Day.

Premier Berejiklian announced a minor reprieve from restrictions for Greater Sydney over these three days, too — letting the rest of the city have ten people over plus kids, like the southern half of the northern beaches.

Since news of the first northern beaches cases back on Thursday, December 17, NSW Health has been updating a long list of locations and venues that positive coronavirus cases have visited over the past week — which Sydneysiders are asked to check frequently and, if you've been to anywhere listed on the specific dates and times, get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days after your visit.

There is also a series of new pop-up and drive-thru clinics now located on the northern beaches.

If you need a reminder, the symptoms to look out for are coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste. You can find a rundown of testing clinic locations online as well.

For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.