New Delhi (NVI): The New South Wales (NSW) government today announced new restrictions for Sydney ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations, as the COVID-19 outbreak spreads to new areas.
The announcement of further restrictions for New Year’s Eve came following the discovery of a new cluster of COVID-19 in a separate part of the city, believed to have spread during Christmas gatherings.
According to the reports, the NSW government recorded, 18 new local COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours, including a cluster in Croydon in Sydney’s inner west and two cases in Wollongong.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said, “We don’t want New Year’s Eve to be the cause of a super-spreader (event).”
Berejiklian added that the advice is to just stay home, but if you are considering going out or having people over, these are the rules as of December 30.
Under new restrictions, households will now be restricted to only five guests, down from the previous 10 person limit and outdoor gathering numbers have also been cut to 30 from 50. Also, other states and territories in Australia have to maintain a travel ban on people from Sydney.
The city’s traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations will still go ahead but authorities have already banned group gatherings at vantage points around the harbour.
Earlier, the virus’s re-appearance in Sydney a week before Christmas also sparked a sudden re-introduction of restrictions in the city, including restrains on holiday gatherings and a lockdown of the worst-affected region, the Northern Beaches.
So far, Australia has recorded 909 COVID-19 deaths and more than 28,300 cases registered since the pandemic began.
-RJV
