Lock down lifted – but some restrictions

THE Upper Hunter Shire Council is one of 12 local government areas which are no longer in lock down, effective at 1pm today.

Other areas out of lockdown include: Muswellbrook, Singleton, Dungog, Bega, Blayney, Bogan, Cabonne, Forbes, Narrabri, Parkes and Snowy Monaro.

“My message is simple, remain vigilant, get tested if you have an onset of symptoms please minimise mobility as much as possible, this is a good news day for people of regional New South Wales who join other communities that have had their stay at home orders lifted,” said John Barilaro

“If you can avoid going to a local government area which is in lock down please do,” he said.

“And a reminder that if you do visit a local government area which is in lockdown the reality is that those stay at home orders then come back with you, so minimise mobility.

“Vaccination is the key, vaccination continues to be the key in regional and rural New South Wales and we know that there is an abundant supply of AstraZeneca in the regions and we encourage everybody to continue to get vaccinated,” he said.

“We know Moderna is coming on line with pharmacy networks and of course Pfizer is available through GPs and some of our health networks, but we also know there is a supply shortage on Pfizer, so today I advise people to continue to get vaccinated, to remain vigilant get tested if you have symptoms, support your communities and more importantly take a modest approach towards movement,” John Barilaro said.

Everest

The Deputy Premier was asked if the Everest race meeting in Randwick would be open to vaccinated people and said it was possible but there will be a cap under the new roadmap at 70 percent.

“If the state has opened under the 70 percent road map the capacity at the moment is 5000 people so it would have to be under that,” said Mr Barilaro.

“There are processes for exemptions, but I’ve got to be honest I don’t think that would be appropriate at at very early stage in the 70 percent road map,” John Barilaro said.

Editorial note: If you travel to an LGA which is under lock down, you will then need to adhere to stay at home orders for 14 days, when you return home. This is the same process which occurred when Muswellbrook went into lockdown and people from the Upper Hunter Shire Council visited Muswellbrook then had to go into stay at home orders. Fortunately, Muswellbrook and Singleton are not in lockdown this time, so it only applies when you visit an LGA which is under stay at home orders.

Mask wearing, QR codes and so forth still apply.