Gladys Berejiklian reveals which Covid-19 restrictions will be eased within days as NSW records zero local cases for second day in a row
Gladys Berejiklian has said Covid-19 restrictions will be eased in Sydney if cases remain low and more people come out to get tested.
New South Wales recorded zero local cases for the second day in a row on Friday as clusters in western Sydney and the Northern Beaches appear to be contained.
But the premier said ‘our testing rates are not where we’d like them to be’ after only 16,070 swabs were taken on Thursday.
Gladys Berejiklian has said restrictions will be eased for Sydney if cases remain low and more people come out to get tested
‘Please come forward and get tested if you have the mildest of symptoms. That will allow us to have the confidence to bring easing of restrictions,’ she said.
Asked when restrictions will be eased the premier replied: ‘We are definitely in that space, but we just need a few more days and we also need those testing rates to go higher to give us the confidence that we can do that.
‘Because the last thing we want is to suddenly ease restrictions and go back to where we were a few weeks ago.’
Ms Berejiklian said the first restrictions to be eased will be allowing children to visit homes as well as five adults and increasing the 100-person cap on weddings.
‘Particular things we are looking at are, obviously, children under 12 being allowed in households, potentially looking at weddings and what we can do there,’ she said.
‘Please know that top of mind for us is making life easier for everybody, for being able to ease those restrictions where we can, and providing certainty to business which is really important as well.’
Masks were made mandatory and home gatherings were limited to five visitors after an outbreak on the Northern Beaches of Sydney was identified on December 16 and another cluster emerged in western Sydney on December 29.
Two cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Friday.
Ms Berejiklian also urged other premiers to remove border restrictions with NSW after federal health experts declared Sydney was no longer a hotspot.
‘There is no hot spot in New South Wales so I don’t see why any state is preventing people in New South Wales from moving freely,’ she said.
