Overview
This year has been anything but normal, and the trend is continuing into Christmas. Because of a recent outbreak on Sydney's northern beaches, COVID-19 restrictions are (once again) impacting what we can and can't do, and who (and how many people) we can see for the festive occasion.
For the first time in 2020, Sydney is broken up into different areas with different restrictions. As the majority of the cluster is located in the northern part of the northern beaches, this is where the strictest restrictions are. Next, comes the southern half of northern beaches; then Greater Sydney — which, currently, includes the Blue Mountains — the Central Coast and Wollongong; and, finally, the rest of NSW, which has the most relaxed restrictions.
The recent outbreak, which currently includes 104 cases, has led to the NSW Government tightening restrictions across all of Greater Sydney, but the good news is that some of them are being temporarily relaxed between Thursday, December 24 and Saturday, December 26. What that does mean, though, is that it's all a little confusing.
To help you plan your day — and ensure you're not slapped with a $1000 on-the-spot fine — we've broken down exactly what you can do, region by region.
NORTHERN NORTHERN BEACHES
Sydney's northern beaches suburbs have been under stay-at-home orders since Saturday, December 19. They were initially flagged to end on midnight last night, Wednesday, December 23, but instead the NSW Government has split the northern beaches into two zones — a northern and southern section, using the Narrabeen Bridge and the Baha'i Temple as a boundary — each with different rules. You'll find a map from the NSW Government showing the two areas below.
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 until midnight on Saturday, December 26. Northern northern beaches residents will be able to have five visitors over, including kids, during those three days, as long as their visitors live in the 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).
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.
SOUTHERN NORTHERN BEACHES
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 folk 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 southern northern beaches area.
As for what happens afterwards in this zone, the government has said that it will make an announcement on Boxing Day.
GREATER SYDNEY, CENTRAL COAST AND WOLLONGONG
In a bid to contain the stop the spread of the outbreak across Sydney, the NSW Government tightened gathering restrictions on Sunday, December 20 for Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong. Initially set to expire at midnight last night, the new caps for gatherings at home and in indoor venues were extended indefinitely — but there's a very minor change in place for December 24, 25 and 26.
If you're keen to have folk 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 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.
From Thursday, December 24–Saturday, December 26, 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.
These new restrictions do not impact outdoor public gatherings, however, with the current limit of 100 people remaining.
THE REST OF NSW
For everyone outside of Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Wollongong and the northern beaches — and those who haven't been told to isolate after visiting a hotspot — the restrictions for indoor gatherings are much more relaxed.
In the rest of NSW, you may have up to 50 visitors at your home at a time (including adults and children) and there's no daily limit on how many visitors you may have. If you do go over the 50-person limit, though, every single person present could possibly be slapped with a $1000 on-the-spot fine.
Like Greater Sydney, public outdoor gatherings are restricted to 100. Hospitality and other indoor entertainment venues can have a limit of one person per two-square-metres.
For more information about current restrictions and the developing northern beaches outbreak, head to the NSW Government website.