NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced COVID-19 restrictions introduced to pubs will be extended to restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs.
Key points:
- The new restrictions will come into effect from July 24
- Premier Gladys Berejiklian says it will reduce pressure on health authorities
- NSW Health contacted up to 6,000 people while tracing the Crossroads Hotel cluster
The restrictions include limiting bookings to a maximum of 10 people.
Weddings and corporate events will also be limited to 150 people, subject to the four square metre rule.
Funerals and places of worship will be limited to 100 people.
The restrictions will be in place from July 24.
It follows similar restrictions announced on Tuesday for pubs, after several were fined for flouting public health orders.
NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant said there had been eight new cases diagnosed on Thursday night, including two people who were returning travellers in quarantine and six cases from community transmission.
An additional five cases were reported between 8:00pm and 9:00am this morning, with three of those linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster.
Dr Chant said this brought the total number of people linked to the Casula pub to 42, including 27 people who were contacts of people who attended the venue.
One of the new cases is a woman aged in her 30s who worked at the Thai Rock restaurant in Stockland Mall Wetherill Park on July 9-12 and July 14.
Another case linked to the restaurant, not included in Friday’s statistics but reported late in the afternoon, has also emerged.
A customer who dined at the venue on July 10 has since tested positive, making it the third case after another diner who also was at the restaurant on the same date previously tested postive.
Contact tracing for all who went to the restaurant over the full period in July is underway.
Dr Chant said up to four chains of transmission had developed from the Crossroads outbreak.
Dr Chant said it was “pleasing” that some of the cases were diagnosed while isolating, breaking the chain of transmission.
Ms Berejiklian praised the efforts of health workers who have contacted up to 6,000 people in relation to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak.
“The detective work that has gone on this week has been nothing short of Herculean,” she said.
She also thanked the more than 3,000 people in south-west Sydney who had come forward for testing this week, with almost 24,500 getting tested across the state.
The latest measures will come almost four weeks after NSW eased coronavirus restrictions.
From July 1, indoor venues including pubs, cafes and restaurants, as well as functions, were able to hold any number of people, as long as they remained seated and stuck to one person per four square metres.
This also included weddings, which were previously subjected to separate limitations and capped at 20 guests.
Ms Berejiklian said she understood the new restrictions would be particularly difficult for those attending funerals.
“They are emotional occasions where people know each other and that increases the risk of transmission,” she said.
People attending weddings and corporate events would need to remain seated, she said.
“No dancing, no singing, no mingling.”
She said the measures would minimise the risk of indoor activities which “super spread the virus” and would take pressure off venues and health authorities by reducing the number of people they need to contact trace.
NSW Health is treating 101 COVID-19 cases, including one person in intensive care who does not require a ventilator.
