Mask mandate for Sydney more effective than lockdown now that Christmas and New Year over, expert says
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A lockdown could be a last resort strategy if festive gatherings cause super-spreading.
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One question is increasingly on the minds of Sydneysiders as they watch the northern beaches coronavirus cluster grow: are we going back into lockdown?
Key points:
More drastic restrictions may be needed if Christmas and New Year gatherings cause COVID super-spreading, authorities have flagged
Professor Raina MacIntyre says the fallout from festive gatherings could be greater than the previous Sydney clusters
Professor MacIntyre hopes a mask mandate across Sydney will be tried before a broader lockdown
New South Wales records 18 new locally-acquired cases of coronavirus with SIX in a new mystery cluster in Sydney s inner-west - as Gladys Berejiklian tightens restrictions for NYE
NSW recorded 18 local cases of covid-19 with nine linked to Avalon and six to new mystery Croydon cluster
Officials expect the cluster to increase this week because an extended family had about 34 close contacts
Two mystery cases from same household in Wollongong and another unlinked case is from northern Sydney
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tightened rules for NYE, restricting home visitors to five and gatherings to 30
The number of people who can gather in homes across Greater Sydney will be halved from midnight, as new coronavirus restrictions are announced ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations.
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New Year s Eve house parties are the biggest threat to containing a new Sydney coronavirus cluster, prompting concerns that restrictions on the number of visitors allowed in homes will be flouted.
The number of visitors allowed in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Central Coast homes has been reduced to five, including children, as a new COVID-19 cluster takes hold in the inner west.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that New Year s Eve could be a super-spreader event if people are not vigilant.
Credit:Jessica Hromas
NSW recorded 18 cases of locally transmitted coronavirus to 8pm on Tuesday from 17,267 tests, taking the total number of cases in the state from zero to 160 in two weeks.
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New South Wales has recorded 18 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases with more than 17,000 people coming forward to get tested in the last 24 hours.
Nine of the new cases are linked to the Avalon cluster, bringing the total for that cluster to 138.
Another six locally acquired cases are related to a cluster in Sydney s Inner West referred to as the Croydon cluster. Thirty four close contacts have already been contacted. All six are members of the same family, extended family group. And we anticipate because of the nature of that extended family s movements that there will be more cases from that cluster, Ms Berejiklian said.