NSW to relax hotspot restrictions as state reports 1083 new COVID-19 cases

Across the state, 81.9 per cent of people over the age of 16 have had one dose of a vaccine, and 51.9 per cent are fully vaccinated. 

The easing in restrictions for the LGAs of concern in western and southwestern Sydney will commence from 12.01am Monday 20 September. 

"Also pleasingly, in the areas of concern all the rules will be the same for the rest of Sydney, from tomorrow," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"So relating to exercise, recreation or outdoor gatherings, everything will be the same across greater Sydney, except for the list of authorised workers and the associated permits." 

From Monday 27 September, all pools across NSW will be able to open with a COVID-safe plan in place. 

"All of us appreciate the importance of enjoying the warmer weather - and the positive mental health benefits from recreation and exercise."

Changes welcomed in Sydney LGAs of concern

Cumberland City Council Mayor Steve Christou welcomed the changes, saying it is important there is "equality across the city" with how restrictions are applied.

"The reopening of swimming pools will make a big difference to our community who have been locked down for months under the strict conditions," he said.

"Having an extra recreational and exercise activity will make a huge difference to the mental health of residents, particularly children who are now on holidays after a term of home schooling."

The restrictions being lifted for the LGAs of concern include: 

No limit on the duration of outdoor exercise and recreation (previously a two-hour limit);

Outdoor gatherings of up to five fully vaccinated people (not including children aged 12 and under) will be allowed in a person’s LGA or within 5km of home (previously only fully vaccinated household members could gather outdoors, or up to two fully vaccinated people from different households);

Shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation can be done 5km from home or within your LGA (previously only 5km from home);

Attend a small wedding (maximum 11 people) in Greater Sydney as a guest (previously only allowed in their LGA); and

A person’s single’s bubble buddy can live in Greater Sydney (previously must have resided within 5km of a person’s home). A person from a LGA of concern can also now be a buddy for someone in Greater Sydney.

Case trends reassuring but peak has not yet passed

NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said while he was pleased to see the number of new infections fall on Sunday, that did not necessarily mean the peak had passed.

"We don't want to jump the gun. We do like to see several days before we can call it a trend, but certainly cases overall have been going up. They have stabilised and appear to be dropping in some areas," he said.

"We need to keep our guard up, and we have got a way to go before we can be reassured that numbers are on the way down."

NSW reports 1,083 new COVID-19 cases

The premier said high vaccine uptake was behind the decision to further ease restrictions in the LGAs of concern, citing the fact that 81.9 per cent of adults have had their first dose.

"I couldn't be happier with that rate. We would like to get that as close to 90 per cent as possible," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"There's not long to go really - we're talking weeks - until we get to that 70 per cent double dose." 

The premier said 17 per cent of the state's 12 to 15-year-olds have also had their first dose.

Premier says high vaccination rates support lifting restrictions 

The government's decision to enforce equal restrictions across Sydney follows weeks of large swathes of western and south-western Sydney living under tighter restrictions, including a nightly curfew.

Those 12 LGAs of concern had higher case numbers, but also now have some of the highest vaccination rates in the state.

"The opportunity for us to ease the restrictions in the areas of concern, or equalise them in line with the rest of Sydney, is due in large part to the high rates of vaccination," Ms Berejiklian said on Sunday.

"We have seen some of those communities go from rates of around 19 or 20 per cent up to nearly 90 per cent, and that is extremely encouraging." 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks during a press conference on Sunday.

If the state’s vaccine rollout continues at its current rate, 70 per cent of people over the age of 16 should be fully vaccinated around 10 October. 

That is when restrictions across the state are due to be eased again, with hospitality and retail reopening and residents allowed up to five guests in their homes.

"What we want is to have a reasonable reduction in case numbers by the time we open up, so that we can all move together freely, that everyone can enjoy the benefits of regional NSW or the benefits of Sydney, without fear - in a safe way," Ms Berejiklian said.

"But if there are still pockets of high cases, fully vaccinated adults will be able to have a meal at a restaurant or cafe, but it might have to be in the local community."

Premier warns the health system could be 'overwhelmed' upon state reopening

Looking ahead to the state's planned reopening next month, the premier warned she had received advice from health officials that the hospital system could be "technically overwhelmed" for "several weeks" due to an expected uptick in case numbers.

Ms Berejiklian said the state's intensive care capacity has been slowly ramped up over the past 18 months to account for the expected surge.

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"Ordinarily, our hospital ICU capacity would have been around 530 beds, and we now have a surge capacity of 1,550, including staff beds," she said.

"We certainly don't want it to get anywhere near that 1,550 number, but I do want to stress that when we get to those weeks in October, we are going to see things we have never seen before in our hospital system.

"We will see images, practices, things done differently because our system will never have to cope with the likes of that again, we hope. And that's why we have to be really careful when we start opening up because we don't want to see the system overwhelmed."

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