Overview
When 12.01am hits on Monday, September 13, a few lockdown rules will ease across New South Wales. They're small changes, but if you're eager to spend a bit more time out of the house, they're welcome ones. As announced back in late August, the New South Wales is slightly relaxing the restrictions around outdoor recreation — aka "sitting for relaxation, or to eat, drink or read outdoors" as defined by the NSW Government rules.
Back in August, Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed that because NSW had hit the six-million-jab threshold, the restrictions would loosen for both residents of Sydney's Local Government Areas of concern, and for everyone else in lockdown across the state. For the former (so, in the Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta and Strathfield LGAs, as well as 12 suburbs in the Penrith), outdoor recreation is back on the cards again for families with fully vaccinated adults, as long as it's between 5am–9pm given the nighttime curfew. And, because there's a strict five-kilometre rule in place in these LGAs, you'll need to abide by that requirement for your picnics there as well.
For people who live outside of the hotspot LGAs, you'll be to enjoy outdoor recreation in groups of five, as long as all adults are fully vaccinated. There's a distance limit, though, so it'll still need to be within your LGA or within five kilometres from home.
They're the changes that everyone is looking forward to — and they're actually getting a tweak before they come into effect. Today, Friday, September 10, the Premier advised two changes, affecting everyone across Sydney.
In LGAs of concern, the time limit is now going up to two hours. So, you'll now get twice as long to picnic. (And yes, picnics have been specifically mentioned.)
Outside of LGAs of concern, the five-person total has been clarified. Originally it included children, but only adults had to be fully vaxxed. Now, it doesn't include kids under 12. That means that five adults who've had both their jabs can enjoy outdoor recreation together, and bring any amount of kids under 12 as well.
or within 5km of home. Children under 12 will not be counted in this total. For those who live in the LGAs of concern, a household with all adults vaccinated will be able to engage in outdoor recreation (including picnics) for up to 2 hours within the existing rules
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 10, 2021
Have picnic plans from next week onwards? You can now either lengthen them, or spend time with more of your pals and their kids.
The announcement comes as NSW recorded 1542 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, September 9, and a day after the Premier announced what'll be permitted when 70 percent of eligible NSW residents have had their jabs — a target that's expected to hit by mid-October.
The rules regarding outdoor recreation for fully vaccinated adults across NSW will change at 12.01am on Monday, September 13. For further details about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
Top image: Destination NSW.