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New South Wales has recorded 18 new local cases of coronavirus, prompting Gladys Berejiklian to tighten restrictions ahead of New Year’s Eve.
Nine cases are linked to the Avalon cluster while six patients, all members of the same extended family, are part of a new mystery cluster in Croydon in Sydney’s inner-west.
Two further cases are members of the same household from the Wollongong area and another unlinked case is from northern Sydney.
New South Wales has recorded 18 new local cases of coronavirus. Pictured: Fireworks are prepared for New Years Eve in Sydey
Due to the concerning increase in mystery cases, Premier Berejiklian has limited the number of household visitors allowed in Greater Sydney to five, down from 10.
Outdoor gatherings have also been reduced to 30, down from 50.
‘Our preferred advice is that people just stay home for New Year’s Eve, but if you must have people over, don’t have more than five and please make sure you have adequate social distancing and good ventilation,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
The new cases take the Avalon cluster which emerged on 16 December to 137.
Some 17,000 people were tested on Tuesday but Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant wants this number to increase amid fears the virus is spreading undetected.
The three new mystery cases mean there have now been 13 recorded in the past four weeks, including seven in northern Sydney
Sydney was hit by a storm on Monday night as NSW recorded three new local Covid cases. Pictured: Coogee Beach on Tuesday
On Tuesday Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged Greater Sydney residents to get tested after 16,000 people got swabbed on Tuesday, down from 70,000 on Thursday.
She said ‘Greater Sydney must be on high alert’ until the source of the three new mystery cases is found.
‘I say that in order to encourage as many people as possible across the state, even if you live in the regions, if you have the mildest of symptoms please come forward to get tested,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
The three new mystery cases mean there have now been 13 recorded in the past four weeks, including seven in northern Sydney.
They include a 20-year-old Belrose Hotel worker, a Belrose Hotel bottle shop customer, a Crows Nest firefighter who visited the hotel, a man who worked in the CBD near Chifley Square, a Paragon Hotel sports bar customer, a Bondi resident, a Western Sydney driver who transported flight crew to and from the airport and their hotels, and a hotel quarantine cleaner.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said there are 122 active cases in NSW with none in intensive care and 97 per cent being treated outside hospital.
On Monday Premier Berejiklian tightened restrictions for gatherings across Sydney as the state recorded five new cases.
The northern zone of the Northern Beaches will remain locked down until January 9 to stop the spread of Covid-19. The southern zone will be released from lockdown on January 2
The iconic 12-minute midnight firework display (pictured last year), which is normally attended by a million people and watched around the world, has been shortened to seven minutes
Premier Berejiklian said officials still don’t know how the outbreak began, meaning the northern zone of the Northern Beaches will remain locked down until January 9 to stop the disease spreading – but residents will be allowed five visitors from the zone on New Year’s Eve.
The southern zone will be released from lockdown on January 2 – but residents are allowed 10 visitors from the zone on December 31.
Amid fears New Year’s Eve could become a super-spreader event, restrictions will tighten in Greater Sydney from Monday night with public gatherings limited to 50 people, down from 100. Home gatherings remain limited to 10 visitors.
Thousands of firefighters, nurses and other frontline workers from across the state were due to watch the fireworks around the Harbour Bridge as a reward for their hard work during such a difficult year – but Premier Berejiklian said another time will be found to thank them.
The iconic 12-minute midnight firework display, which is normally attended by a million people and watched around the world, has been shortened to seven minutes this year to save money during the pandemic.
The premier has told residents to avoid the city centre, saying the decades-old tradition of camping around the harbour to secure a good view is banned.
‘We’re trying to be as generous as possible, but we don’t want to create any superspreading events on New Year’s Eve, that ruins it for everyone,’ she said.
Anyone entering the CBD will need to have a pass from Service NSW to prove they have a booking at a restaurant or are visiting a friend’s home.
The government has also ordered local councils to scrap events unless they can be seated and ticketed outside, with a record of attendees kept.
Plans to allow about 5,000 frontline workers to watch the fireworks from vantage points around the Sydney Harbour have been scrapped. Pictured: Fireworks in 2020
Some 15,000 NSW residents got tested on Sunday. Pictured: Testing in Bondi last week
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged residents who want to throw a small party at home to consider hosting barbecues outside.
‘If you can have a barbecue or go to a park or you got an area such as a reserve, that is a safer environment than having people congregate,’ she said.
‘If you have the mildest of symptoms, do not attend any of those events whether they’re indoors or outdoors.
‘The last thing you want to do is be responsible for spreading COVID to your loved ones and the broader community,’ she added.
Premier Berejiklian urged residents to avoid kissing and hugging relatives and friends outside their household.
‘When the clock ticks over to midnight from 31 December to 1 January, I know that’s normally an emotional time where we like to kiss and hug everybody around us. Can I ask for absolute restraint,’ she said.
New South Wales has recorded only five new coronavirus cases but Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tightened restrictions ahead of New Year’s Eve. Pictured: Bondi Beach on Sunday
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