NSW records 1360 new COVID cases, 1 death
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The daily tally of new COVID-19 infections in NSW has jumped by more than 500, as the state braces for further surges with unvaccinated people now free to shop and socialise in NSW.
Some 1360 new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, a jump of 556 on the 804 recorded the previous day.
It is the first time in months the state has recorded more than a thousand new cases in a single day, and comes as the unvaccinated enjoy renewed freedoms.
From Wednesday, unvaccinated people in NSW are subject to the same restrictions as those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID, for the first time in three months.
The NSW government has also honoured its pledge to significantly ease restrictions despite a sharp rise in case numbers amid super-spreading events in the festive season.
QR code check-ins will be scaled back and masks are only required in high-risk settings like public transport and planes.
There is no cap on visitors in homes, hospitality venues, or on numbers at outdoor gatherings.
Business NSW says dropping the QR code check-in to enter shops, and ditching the requirement for customers to show their vaccination status, will give business owners a much-needed boost in the countdown to Christmas.
“This is the early Christmas present business owners and their employees have been waiting for,” Business NSW Chief Executive Daniel Hunter said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, NSW Health says fully vaccinated arrivals from eight southern African countries of concern where the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerged will no longer have to enter 14 days hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same measures.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said all fully vaccinated international arrivals must self-isolate for 72 hours, have a negative result within the first 24 hours of arrival and avoid high-risk settings for a week.
The latest easing of restrictions – long-planned for December 15 – comes just as case numbers spike to a two-month high.
Infection numbers have more than quadrupled in the past two weeks.
Superspreader events are driving the spike, among them an outbreak at the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle on the night of December 8, with more than 200 out of 680 revellers since testing positive.
Of the new infections, 21 were the Omicron variant taking the total cases of the new strain to 85.
