Families have been reunited and many Cobar residents are this week enjoying some long awaited freedom after Cobar was one of the lucky COVID free areas in regional NSW to come out of lockdown on Saturday.
Parts of regional NSW which have seen zero COVID cases for at least 14 days were deemed by the NSW Government as low risk and were able to emerge from lockdown on Saturday.
Some restrictions remain in place, to ensure the safety of regional communities.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro made the announcement last Thursday and said regional communities were doing an incredible job following health advice and getting vaccinated which has made the easing of lockdown in some areas possible.
Mr Barilaro said the decision is based on NSW Health advice.
“My strong advice to everyone in regional NSW is to get vaccinated as soon as you can.
“Our communities need to continue to get vaccinated so that when NSW reaches 70 and 80 per cent, restrictions can ease significantly,” Mr Barilaro said.
Cobar residents (and others in LGA’s who have restrictions eased) have been granted the following freedoms:
Gatherings in the home and public spaces—Up to five visitors will be allowed in a home (not including children 12 and under) and up to 20 people can gather in outdoor settings.
Venues including hospitality, retail stores and gyms—Hospitality venues can reopen subject to one person per 4sqm inside and one person per 2sqm outside, with standing while drinking permitted outside; Retail stores can reopen under the one person per 4sqm rule; Personal services such as hairdressers and nail salons can open with one person per 4sqm, capped at five clients per premises; Gyms and indoor recreation facilities can open under the one person per 4sqm rule and can offer classes for up to 20 people; Sporting facilities includ-ing swimming pools can Schools—will re-open with Level 3 COVIDSafe measures in place.
Major outdoor recreation facilities—Major recreation outdoor facilities including stadi-ums and racecourses, can reopen with one person per 4sqm, capped at 5,000 people; Up to 500 people can attend ticketed and seated outdoor events; Indoor entertainment and information facilities including museums and galleries can reopen with one person per 4sqm or 75 per cent fixed seated capacity.
Weddings, funerals and places of worship—Up to 50 guests can attend weddings, with dancing permitted and eating and drinking only while seated; Up to 50 guests can attend funerals, with eating and drinking while seat-ed; Churches and places of worship to open subject to one person per 4sqm rule, with no singing.
Travel—Caravan parks and camping grounds can open; Carpooling will be permit-ted.
Masks—Masks will remain mandatory for all indoor public venues, including public transport, front-of-house hospitality, retail and business premises, on planes and at airports; Only hospitality staff will be required to wear a mask when outdoors; Children aged under 12 will not need to wear a mask indoors.
While Cobar is out of lockdown, we cannot venture very far with many immediately locat-ed towns still under strict stay at home orders including: Nyngan, Dubbo, Narromine, Gil-gandra, Forbes, Parkes, Orange, Bourke, Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Broken Hill. reopen.
