News

Stay-at-home orders for the Tweed and Byron Shire Local Government Areas will be lifted as scheduled at midnight tonight.

However, these LGAs will continue to operate under some restrictions to ensure community safety. For more information, please visit the NSW Government website.

We need all people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms.

High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.

Stay-at-home orders will be extended for the Cowra Local Government Area (LGA), due to the risk of ongoing COVID-19 transmission.

The stay-at-home orders introduced on 20 September will be extended for seven days until 12:01am 5 October 2021.

The stay-at-home orders for Yass Valley LGA will be lifted, as scheduled, at midnight tonight.

To determine the extent of the risk and detect any other potential COVID-19 cases in the Cowra area, NSW Health are calling on the community to come forward for testing in large numbers.

We need all people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms.

High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.

COVID-19 vaccination is available through NSW Health clinics, GPs, pharmacies and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS).

A list of regional and rural NSW Health vaccination clinics is available on the NSW Government website.

If you need to travel for work to regional and rural NSW areas that aren’t under stay at home orders you must continue to follow stay at home orders while you’re away from home, including if you are an Authorised Worker.

Wherever you go in NSW you can only leave your temporary accommodation for work or if you have a reasonable excuse. You can’t visit local gyms, non-essential retail shops, personal services, or dine in at hospitality venues like pubs and cafes. And don’t forget, to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect our rural and regional communities of NSW you need to register your travel.

There has also been an extra restriction introduced to protect those in our regional and rural areas. Any person that has visited an area subject to stay-at-home orders in the previous 14 days and then enters an area without stay-at-home orders must continue to wear a mask in all outdoors areas (other than a place of residence) and in an indoor areas on common property for residential premises.

Stay-at-home orders for Glen Innes and Orange LGAs will no longer apply from midnight tonight.

However, they will continue to operate under some restrictions to ensure community safety. For more information, please visit the NSW Government website.

Stay-at-home orders for Hilltops LGA, including Young, will be extended for a further seven days from tomorrow (Friday 24 September) due to ongoing transmission in the area.

We need all people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms. High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.

It was announced this week that from Monday 27 September, construction in Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and Wollongong, can resume with 100% of workers on site. This includes in the local government areas (LGAs) of concern.

Maximum capacity of sites in Greater Sydney
Currently, all construction sites in Greater Sydney are limited to the lesser of one person per 4 square metres or 50% of the maximum daily workforce of the site. From 27 September, the 50% cap will be removed. In the interim, sites where construction workers meet the current vaccination requirements that apply to authorised workers will be permitted to exceed the cap. This interim arrangement has been available since midday on 21 September.

How many people are permitted to work on a construction site in Greater Sydney?
From 27 September, construction sites in Greater Sydney will be limited to no more than 1 person per 4 square metres of space at the construction site.

Prior to 27 September, the 50% cap on capacity continues to apply to sites where not all workers on a site meet the current vaccination requirements for authorised workers.

Can vaccinated workers from LGAs of concern attend a construction site in Greater Sydney prior to the 27th September?
Workers from the LGAs of concern are authorised workers and can attend work if they meet the vaccination requirements in the public health order. This does not change.

If they are attending sites where all workers meet the vaccination requirements, all those workers can attend the site regardless of the 50% cap.

From 27 September, the 50% cap will be removed but the vaccination requirements will continue for workers from the LGAs of concern.

Does a worker that is not from an LGA of concern have to meet vaccination requirements from the 27 September to work on a construction site?
No. The removal of the cap does not change the current vaccination requirements for construction workers.

The NSW Government is considering arrangements for general reopening and future vaccination requirements for construction will be considered as part of that process.

The stay-at-home orders introduced last week for the Albury and Lismore Local Government Areas (LGAs) will no longer apply from today, Thursday 23 September.

NSW Health thanks the communities of Albury and Lismore for their co-operation and for coming forward for testing in large numbers.

It was also announced yesterday that stay-at-home orders will no longer apply to three LGAs which have been deemed low-risk and have not recorded any COVID-19 cases or positive sewage detections for 14 days.

The orders will be lifted for Gilgandra and Brewarrina LGAs from Thursday 23 September, Glen Innes and Orange LGAs from Friday 24 September and the Narromine LGA from Saturday 25 September, provided Narromine has no cases or sewage detections before then.

All of these LGAs will continue to operate under some restrictions to ensure community safety. For more information, please visit: www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19.

Stay-at-home orders for Hilltops LGA, including Young, will be extended for a further seven days from tomorrow (Friday 24 September) due to ongoing transmission in the area.

We need all people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms. High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.

Stay-at-home orders will be introduced for the Kempsey, Byron Shire and Tweed Local Government Areas (LGAs) from 5pm today for seven days due to an increased COVID-19 public health risk.

These stay-at-home orders also apply to anyone who has been in an affected LGA since the following dates:

• Kempsey LGA - 14 September
• Byron LGA - 18 September
• Tweed LGA - 18 September

Everyone in the affected LGAs must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason, which includes shopping for food, medical care, getting vaccinated, compassionate needs, exercise and work or tertiary education if you can't work or study at home.

People who are fully vaccinated can attend an outdoor gathering of up to five people for exercise or outdoor recreation, as long as all of those aged 16 or older are fully vaccinated.

To determine the extent of the risk and detect any further potential COVID-19 cases in these areas, NSW Health are calling on the communities to come forward for testing in large numbers.

A strong response to testing will be a key factor in determining if these stay-at-home orders are extended beyond one week. High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.

COVID-19 vaccination is available through NSW Health clinics, GPs, pharmacies and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS).

Use the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility checker to find the nearest vaccination clinic, or refer to Get your COVID-19 vaccination.

A list of regional and rural NSW Health vaccination clinics is available on the NSW Government website.

Restrictions in local government areas of concern will start to align with other lockdown areas, as vaccination rates continue to rise in Sydney’s West and South-West.

From 12.01am Monday, 20 September, the following restrictions will ease for those who live in LGAs of concern:

• No limit on the duration of outdoor exercise and recreation (previously a two-hour limit);
• Outdoor gatherings of up to five fully vaccinated people (not including children aged 12 and under) will be allowed in a person’s LGA or within 5km of home (previously only fully vaccinated household members could gather outdoors, or up to two fully vaccinated people from different households);
• Shopping, exercise and outdoor recreation can be done 5km from home or within your LGA (previously only 5km from home);
• Attend a small wedding (maximum 11 people) in Greater Sydney as a guest (previously only allowed in their LGA); and
• A person’s single’s bubble buddy can live in Greater Sydney (previously must have resided within 5km of a person’s home). A person from a LGA of concern can also now be a buddy for someone in Greater Sydney.

Nearly all restrictions in the LGAs of concern are now aligned with other lockdown areas, with the main differences being authorised worker conditions and travel permit requirements which remain in place in the LGAs of concern.