Vaccinated people across the State had more freedoms returned to them on Monday (18 October) as NSW moved into the next stage of its reopening roadmap.
Announcing the milestone, Premier, Dominic Perrottet said the Reopening NSW Roadmap’s 80 per cent vaccination rate settings were now in place.
Mr Perrottet said for people who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, community sport was able to resume; there was no longer a cap on the number of guests at weddings and funerals; masks were no longer required in offices; and drinking while standing up was permitted indoors and outdoors at hospitality venues.
He also took the opportunity to outline further changes which are expected to take effect from 1 November.
“We have reached this vaccination milestone quicker than anyone thought we could, and that is a testament to the hard work of people across the State turning out to get vaccinated,” Mr Perrottet said.
“From 1 November bookings for hospitality venues will no longer be capped,” he said.
“Also from 1 November, the NSW Government will remove quarantine requirements and caps for overseas arrivals who the Commonwealth Government recognises as fully vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine, helping Australians stranded abroad get home before the end of the year.”
Mr Perrottet said overseas arrivals who were not fully vaccinated would be capped at 210 people per week, and would be required to undergo mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.
The Premier said travel between Greater Sydney and regional NSW would also be permitted from 1 November, to allow people in the regions more time to receive their second vaccine.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, Paul Toole said the decision to delay travel between regional NSW and Greater Sydney was based on health modelling and feedback from regional communities who wanted more time to get local vaccination rates up before welcoming back visitors.
Mr Toole said that by 1 November, 77 per cent of people living in regional NSW were expected to be vaccinated.
