NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a roadmap for the state to follow once 70 percent of the population are double vaccinated.

Fully-vaccinated residents of Greater Sydney, who have been subjected to stay-at-home orders for nearly 14 weeks, will get to enjoy freedoms which will trigger the Monday after NSW reaches its 70 percent double dose vaccination target.

Fully vaccinated adults and those with medical exemptions will have the following freedoms:

  • Up to five visitors in a home (not including children under 12)
  • A maximum of 20 people gathering in outdoor settings.

Hospitality venues can also reopen, subject to the one person per 4sqm inside and one person per 2sqm outside rules, and standing while drinking is permitted outside.

Retail stores, hairdressers, nail salons, and other personal services can also reopen with person per 4sqm, and with a cap of five clients per premises for personal services.

Gyms will be allowed to reopen under the same 4sqm rule and can offer classes for up to 20 people.

Restrictions for weddings, funerals and places of worship will also be eased, with up to 50 guests able to attend weddings and funerals, eating and drinking permitted while seated at these events, and places of worship allowed to reopen with one person per 4sqm and no singing.

Masks will continue to be mandatory for indoor public venues, but only hospitality staff will be required to wear them when outdoors.

Domestic travel will also be permitted, including trips to regional NSW, and caravan parks and campgrounds can open.

Employers must continue to allow employees to work from home if they are able to do so.

There will also be revised guidelines for fully-vaccinated individuals who are close or casual contacts of a COVID-19 case, which will be provided closer to the reopening date.

Ms Berejiklian has also mentioned that additional freedoms will be added once the state reaches 80 percent double dose vaccinations.

Parts of regional NSW leaving lockdown

Parts of regional NSW that have been deemed as low-risk or have seen zero COVID-19 cases for at least 14 days will also leave lockdown today.

The freedoms allowed for fully vaccinated individuals will be extended to all people in regional LGAs where stay-at-home orders have been lifted.

The areas that will stay in lockdown include:

  • Bathurst
  • Bega
  • Blayney
  • Bogan
  • Bourke
  • Brewarrina
  • Broken Hill
  • Cabonne
  • Central Coast
  • Central Darling
  • Cessnock
  • Dubbo
  • Dungog
  • Eurobodalla
  • Forbes
  • Gilgandra
  • Goulbourn
  • Mulwarre
  • Kiama
  • Lake Macquarie
  • Lithogow
  • Maitland
  • Mid-Coast
  • Mid-Western
  • Muswellbrook
  • Narrabri
  • Narromine
  • Newcastle
  • Orange
  • Parks
  • Port Stephens
  • Queanbeyan-Palerang
  • Shellharbour
  • Shoalhaven
  • Singleton
  • Snowy Monaro
  • Upper Hunter
  • Walgett
  • Wingecarribee

However, Ms Berejiklian also stated that freedoms would be restricted in areas where outbreaks occur and that the areas may re-enter a minimum 14-day lockdown.

Back to school

The Premier confirmed that schools will be fully returning to face-to-face learning from Monday, October 25, with the assumption that the state will reach the 70 percent double dose target by then.

“It is really important for school communities, for students and teachers to have a fixed date they open to provide certainty,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“We assumed, and I think that assumption will bear fruit that by that stage, 70 percent of adults would be vaccinated and there would be some start of the vaccination for 12-15-year-olds.”

The news comes as the state recorded 1405 locally acquired cases to 8pm on Wednesday night, as well as the deaths of five people.

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