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 Stay-at-home orders are due to be lifted on Monday after New South
Wales state this week hit its 70% target of full vaccination for its
adult population, and owners of restaurants and other public venues
are now scrambling to arrange supplies and staffing.
While an easing of restrictions on travel for Sydneysiders outside
of their local government areas had previously been flagged,
authorities on Thursday also decided to bump up permitted limits for
home gatherings, weddings and funerals - earning the ire of the
Australian Medical Association (AMA).
"New South Wales must not be reckless at this critical time," AMA
President Omar Khorshid said in a statement, adding that "too fast
or too early" could result in avoidable deaths and the
reintroduction of lockdowns.
State Premier Dominic Perrottet has defended his decision to bring
forward the easing of several restrictions amid a steady fall in
infections, saying the pandemic "is an economic crisis too".
Officials have a staggered plan to ease limits on gatherings as full
inoculation hits 70%, 80% and 90% of adults and while movement
around the city will be permitted from Monday, restrictions on
travelling to regional areas remain.
Stuart Knox, owner of Fix Wine, a downtown restaurant and bar, said
it was exciting to be re-opening even if preparing was difficult.
"We're still flying blind, we've got no idea as a CBD restaurant how
many people are coming back and it's all murky what we're going to
deal with," he said.
He added he was still unsure how to check patrons' vaccination
status as required since a promised smartphone app was not yet
operational.
Daily infections in New South Wales rose on Friday to 646 cases, the
majority in Sydney, up from 587 on Thursday. They had previously
fallen for the past seven days as first-dose inoculations in people
over 16 near 90%. Eleven new deaths were registered.
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 State Chief Health Officer
Kerry Chant said genomic sequencing has
uncovered a new Delta strain in eight new cases
and more tests will be conducted to trace the
source.
"There is no indication that this new strain
presents any differences regarding transmission,
vaccine effectiveness or severity," she said.
Victoria state logged a record 1,838 new cases
on Friday, the highest number of any state in the country since the
pandemic began, exceeding the previous high of 1,763 set three days
earlier. There were five new deaths
 The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews - one of
the most vocal proponents of tough restrictions
to rein in outbreaks - was fined A$400 ($300) on
Friday for breaching the state's mask mandate
after media photographed him walking mask-free
from his car to two news conferences this week.
"Whilst this was an oversight, oversights
matter. Everyone needs to follow the rules and I
am sorry it occurred," the Australian newspaper
quoted Andrews saying.
Australia is fighting a third wave of infections
fuelled by the Delta variant. In addition to
Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra have also had
lockdowns imposed, forcing the closure of
thousands of businesses.
The country's cumulative COVID-19 numbers are,
however, still far lower than many comparable
countries, with some 122,500 cases and 1,405
deaths.
Neighbouring New Zealand, which had stayed
largely virus-free for most of the pandemic
until a Delta outbreak in mid-August, reported
44 new local cases, up from 29 on Thursday.
($1 = 1.3702 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose and Byron Kaye; Editing
by Richard Pullin and Edwina Gibbs)
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