The harsh lockdown rules in the 12 LGAs of concern in Sydney’s southwest and west will be eased to match the rest of Greater Sydney’s restrictions from Monday, September 20, save for one rule. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the LGAs had “led the way in NSW for vaccination rates”, adding that she was grateful to these parts of Sydney that had been doing it tough for so long. The one rule remaining in place is in relation to authorised work. Only people meeting the authorised worker criteria are permitted to leave their LGA, and relevant surveillance testing and permits will remain in place.
From tomorrow, five vaccinated adults and associated dependents can gather outdoors anywhere in Sydney for exercise or recreation. Those who live alone can have 'single buddies' anywhere in Greater Sydney, not just within 5km of the single person's home. Weddings can be held anywhere in Sydney with a maximum of 11 people.
"They have shown us the way and what it means to be resilient and strong," said Berejiklian. "I can only imagine what it meant for families, and what it has meant for households to have to endure those restrictions for such a long period of time.”
The premier also announced that from Monday, September 27, all public pools across the state would be allowed to reopen, with Covid-safe measures in place. Berejiklian said that the decision to reopen pools had been given the green light by the state’s health experts as the warmer months begin in Sydney.
The state’s daily case numbers continue to stabilise, although Berejiklian said it was still too early to say if the state had passed its peak. On September 19, 1083 cases were diagnosed during the 24 hour reporting period. Dr McAnulty said he didn’t want to “jump the gun” but that the numbers were “very encouraging”. As of September 18, 81.9 per cent of eligible adults in NSW have now had at least one dose of a vaccine and 51.9 per cent of the adult population have been fully vaccinated.