File Photo - Stuart Ayres MP
NSW is considering a significant change in COVID rules in the coming weeks. This was foreshadowed at an industry event on Thursday, February 3 by Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres. He said he was confident that the ban on singing and dancing would be dropped by the end of the month.
He said: “We think that we're getting through the worst of the Omicron variant Omicron”.
The restrictions banning singing and dancing were put in place in mid-December by Premier Dominic Perrottet as case numbers surged in the lead up to Christmas.
File Photo - NSW Premier Dominic Perrotet
In early December Mr Perrottet had been adamant restrictions would continue to ease as masks became mandated in only high-risk settings, QR codes disappeared, and venue cap limits were removed.
There has been a slight downward trend of reported new cases. See the figures below.
In terms of immunisation, as per advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), NSW Health clinics have now made booster vaccinations available for those aged 16-17 years old.
ATAGI recommends a booster vaccination with the (Pfizer) COVID-19 (Comirnaty) vaccine, for all adolescents aged 16-17 years old who have received any TGA-approved or recognised vaccines for their primary vaccine schedule, from three months after receiving their last primary dose. This includes those who were aged under 16 years when they received their last primary dose and are now aged 16 years.
NSW Health encourages everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccination or their booster dose to book into a NSW Health vaccination clinic or another provider without delay through the COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder.
For more information, check out the NSW Health Website: NSW Health
In the meantime, Scott Morrison today held a pre-election campaign stop in Melbourne courting voters in key marginal seats. He stated that the priorities for his government is to put in place a skills and job recovery program and keeping tax and cost of electricity down.
He also acknowledged the challenges in the aged care sector. He said: “there’s no easy solution to aged care challenges. We will keep working with the aged care industry. We will keep good supply of Rapid Antigen Test kits, PPEs and give additional financial assistance. … We have done what we can to minimise the impact of the pandemic to aged care.”