Overview
When New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that gathering restrictions would come back into effect in the Greater Sydney area in response to the northern beaches COVID-19 cluster, she also revealed that the next big piece of news would come on the morning of Wednesday, December 23. The timing is obvious, because everyone wants to know what's in store for Christmas. And so, at her daily press conference today, Premier Berejiklian advised that the current gathering limits that have been in effect since Sunday, December 20 will continue.
That means that, in the Greater Sydney area including the Blue Mountains and Central Coast, caps remain in place for gatherings at home and in indoor venues. If you're keen to have folks over to your house, that's limited at ten people. At all other indoor settings other than the family home — which includes hospitality venues — the one-person-per-four-square-metre rule is still in effect. And, a cap of 300 people remains for big venues, even if a large space can hold more than that and still abide by the density requirement.
The at-home ten-person rule was originally due to expire at 11.59pm tonight, Wednesday, December 23, so it has been extended indefinitely in this new announcement. And the one-person-per-four-square-metre rule for venues wasn't given an end date when it was reintroduced, so it's in place until advised otherwise, too. Wondering what that means for New Year's Eve? At present, the NSW Government statement advises that "decisions on New Year's Eve and upcoming sporting events will be made after this Christmas period". Yes, that's mighty vague.
There is one change coming into place for folks getting together at home over Christmas, though, and it only applies from Thursday, December 24–Saturday, December 26. On those three days, the ten-person limit doesn't include children under the age of 12. So, you can have ten adults and however many kids under 12 at your house. But, you can only have one group of people over on each day — so you can't have different lots of ten people and children coming over at different times.
This very minor change stops at midnight on Saturday, December 26, with the hard ten-person rule — for visitors of all ages — back in effect from Sunday, December 27 until further notice.
For folks in the northern beaches, which is presently in lockdown, the area is being split into two zones. The northern half, from the Narrabeen Bridge up and east of the Baha'i Temple, can have five visitors over including kids from Thursday, December 24–Saturday, December 26, as long as their visitors live in the peninsula zone. Then, it'll go back into the current stay-at-home conditions. The lower half can have ten visitors plus kids during that period, including folks from the rest of Greater Sydney, and will then be told what happens afterwards in an announcement on Boxing Day.
Announcing the news, Premier Berejiklian revealed that nearly 42,000 people came forward for COVID-19 testing in the past 24 hours, with eight new local cases diagnosed — and seven of those linked to the cluster.
She also revealed that, from Friday, January 1, using the NSW Government QR code system will become mandatory for all hospitality venues and hairdressers.
As proved the case the moment the current cluster popped up, Sydneysiders are also asked to continue to frequently check NSW Health's long list of locations and venues that positive coronavirus cases have visited over the past week — 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.
In terms of symptoms, Sydneysiders should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste — and getting tested at a clinic if you have any.
For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.