The NSW Government has widened its compulsory mask-wearing rules to include all public indoor venues in the City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside, and Woollahra local government areas.
These venues include retail and masks are also mandatory for front-of-house hospitality staff.
The move comes as NSW tries to get the current outbreak of cases under control, and also tries to avoid putting large parts of the city into lockdown.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “We want people to start doing that from now. That will be the same period as compulsory public transport mask wearing, until Wednesday midnight that is what we will ask people to do.
“I know all of us are a bit fatigued after so many months of living with COVID but we can’t drop for now.
“We have to make sure we aren’t complacent and have to make sure we are complying to what we are asking you to do.”
The Government said the indoor areas where a face mask must be worn are:
- retail or business premises that provide goods or services to members of the public who attend the premises, including supermarkets and shopping centres (excluding an indoor recreation facility in a shopping centre)
- gaming lounges (any part of a licensed premises including pubs, registered clubs and casinos, that is used mainly for gaming).
You must wear a fitted face covering if you:
- work at a hospitality venue located in the relevant local government area and
- deal directly with members of the public.
With two locally acquired cases announced today there are now 11 cases linked to the Bondi cluster.
In a statement NSW Health said: “People who do not have symptoms and have not been at the specific exposure venues at the listed times do not need to isolate, however everyone is strongly urged to avoid gatherings and minimise their movements, such as not attending the cinemas or trips to the ski fields. If you can work from home, please do so.”
The full list of face masks rules and current case locations is available on the NSW Government’s COVID-19 website.