Fully vaccinated NSW residents will reap the rewards from the state’s accelerated reopening roadmap today as a raft of new freedoms kick in.
A raft of new freedoms have kicked in for fully vaccinated NSW residents, as the state nears a critical vaccination milestone.
The eased restrictions come after Premier Dominic Perrottet announced last week the reopening roadmap would be fast-tracked, bringing forward the next wave of freedoms from December 1 to November 8.
This means the majority of restrictions have now been scrapped for those who have gotten the jab.
However, some rules still remain around mask-wearing indoors, along with density limits for weddings, funerals and venues.
NSW is also expected to hit its 90 per cent double dose vaccination milestone today, with the most recent figures showing the state sitting at 89.8 per cent of residents over the age of 16 fully vaccinated.
At least 93.9 per cent have received their first dose.
Here are all the changes kicking in from today:
• There is no limit for household and outdoor public gatherings
• The one person per 2sq m rule applies indoor and outdoor for all businesses and venues
• No person or booking limits in hospitality venues and patrons can now drink standing up
• Singing and dancing is permitted indoors and outdoors for venues
• Masks will remain mandatory indoors until December 15
• No person limits for major recreation facilities such as stadiums, theme parks and racecourse (subject to density limits or 100 per cent fixed seated capacity)
• No person limit for entertainment facilities such as cinemas and theatres (subject to density limits or 100 per cent fixed seated capacity)
• No person limit for information and education facilities such as art galleries, museums and libraries (subject to density limits or 100 per cent fixed seated capacity)
• Indoor swimming pools are reopen for all purposes and community sport is permitted for all staff, spectators and participants
• There is no customer cap for personal services, such as hairdressers, spas, beauty and nail salons, tattoo and massage parlours (density limits still apply)
• Sex services premises can reopen
• Employers must allow staff to continue to work from home, if reasonably practicable
• Wedding ceremonies are permitted with no person limit or a five person limit for people who are not fully vaccinated
• Wedding receptions are permitted with no person limit subject to density rules. It is not permitted for unvaccinated people
• Funerals are permitted with no person limit or a 10-person limit for unvaccinated people
• Eating and drinking at weddings and funerals must be seated for people who are not fully vaccinated and they cannot sing or dance indoors
• Places of worship are open to all, though density limits apply
Rules for unvaccinated residents
Unvaccinated NSW residents have essentially been living under lockdown conditions while the rest of the state enjoys new freedoms.
Those who haven’t been fully vaccinated were due to get the same freedoms as vaccinated residents on December 1, but Mr Perrottet set a new goalpost for unvaccinated people last week.
When announcing changes to the roadmap, the Premier said unvaccinated people wouldn’t enjoy new freedoms until the state hits its 95 per cent double dose target or December 15 – whichever comes first.
Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres said the decision was made to protect the wider community.
“We have exceeded our expectations and because of that we are able to make some prudent changes that allow people who are fully vaccinated to be able to do more things slightly earlier,” he said.
“But we will also take that same prudent decision by just holding back unvaccinated people for another couple of weeks.
“It’s in line with the decision we made around not allowing people to travel into regional NSW until we had slightly higher rates of vaccination.
“There is a really clear message here. We want to get to 95 per cent and encourage people to go out to get vaccinated.”
Mr Perrottet said NSW had “exceeded” where we thought we would be in terms of vaccination targets.
“We are on track to do it. It is one last push and I believe that we can get to that 95 per cent mark, plus a strong booster program,” he said.
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