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Recreation rules will be relaxed in Sydney's hardest hit suburbs as vaccination rates continue to climb.
NSW reported 1083 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths on Sunday.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked people in a dozen LGAs of concern for their resilience before offering them the extra freedoms granted to the rest of the city a week earlier.
"The opportunity for us to ease the restrictions in the areas of concern, or equalise them in line with the rest of Sydney, is due in large part to the high rates of vaccination," Ms Berejiklian said on Sunday.
"We have seen some of those communities go from rates of around 19 or 20 per cent up to nearly 90 per cent and that is extremely encouraging."
Fully vaccinated adults in the 12 government areas will from Monday be able to exercise outdoors with no time limits, and gather in groups of five for outdoor recreation within five kilometres from home.
Kids under the age of 12 are not included in those numbers.
Authorised worker conditions and travel permit requirements will remain in place in the LGAs of concern.
The premier said the situation remains "precarious" and case numbers will increase when the state reopens on reaching the 70 per cent double vaccination target.
"We are anticipating our worst weeks in ICU and hospitals will be in October," she said.
Public pools can reopen in NSW from Monday, September 27.
Of the 13 people who died with COVID-19 in the latest reporting period, one was in their 40s, two in their 50s, two in their 60s, five in their 70s, and three in their 80s.
There are 1238 COVID-19 cases in hospital, with 234 people in intensive care, 123 of whom require ventilation.
When asked whether the state had reached or surpassed its peak in case numbers, NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said he did not want to "jump the gun" as cases were rising in some regions.
"Cases overall have been going up, they have stabilised and appear to be dropping in some areas where we have had rapidly increasing vaccination uptake as well as good compliance," he said.
By Friday night, 81.9 per cent of the state's over-16 population had received a first dose of vaccine, while 51.9 per cent were fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, 1700 police officers were deployed across the state to quash planned demonstrations against stay-at-home orders. They arrested 32 people and issued 265 infringement notices.
"I'm pleased to see that common sense has prevailed and the vast majority of people have complied with the existing public health orders," Police Minister David Elliott said.
Meanwhile, the union representing prison officers says mandating COVID-19 inoculations for jail staff is "a job half done" and inmates need the jab too.
"To keep NSW jails safe from COVID-19 everyone in the justice system needs to be vaccinated, no excuses," the Public Service Association's Stewart Little said.
All prison officers are required to be double vaccinated by January.
The hair and beauty industry has called on a rethink to an incoming five-client cap when salons reopen.
Australian Hair Council Chief Executive Sandy Chong said the measure would not impact transmission in any "meaningful" way.
"These restrictions are also completely inconsistent with other industries such as fitness and hospitality, which bear similar, if not greater risks of transmission, and will be able to operate without such a restrictive cap," she said.
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Three more Victorian regions will join Melbourne and Ballarat in a seven-day lockdown due to rising COVID-19 case numbers in each area.
Greater Geelong, the Surf Coast and Mitchell shires will enter lockdown from 11.59pm on Sunday, with the stay-at-home rules - but no curfew - applying to people who live in those areas.
Out of Victoria's 507 new cases, four were recorded in the Surf Coast and Geelong, with seven in Mitchell Shire.
There are now 17 active cases in the Geelong region and 15 in Mitchell Shire.
Under the lockdown, residents in the three regions must abide by a 10 kilometre travel limit from their homes, with four hours of exercise and social interaction allowed each day.
People can meet one other person, or up to four others from two households as long as all adults are fully vaccinated.
"If you're in Geelong, Surf Coast or Mitchell Shire, follow the restrictions, get tested if you have symptoms, and get vaccinated if you haven't already," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday.
"Regional communities have overcome outbreaks before - and this will be no different."
Meanwhile, Victoria has declared 66 local government areas in NSW, plus Jervis Bay, will move from an extreme risk zone to a red zone under the travel permit system.
This will allow Victorians stranded in those areas to come home, where they must then isolate for 14 days and get tested regularly.
Additionally, all LGAs on the NSW-Victoria border will become red zones, except Albury which was on Thursday sent back into a week-long lockdown.
This means cross-border community residents, who have not left a cross-border area or visited an extreme risk zone in the past 14 days, can enter Victoria without a permit for any reason.
"We know that communities along the border have seen a lot of changes to the system, but it's good news that most border residents will be able to use the permit exception that used to be in place," Health Minister Martin Foley said.
"And additionally, many Victorians who have been in regional New South Wales will now be able to come home to isolate in Victoria."
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Melbourne's controversial curfew will be scrapped, with people able to travel up to 25 kilometres and have a beer outside the pub once 70 per cent of Victorians aged over 16 are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
But the most substantial changes to the state's restrictions will not be made until 80 per cent of people are immunised, which is forecast to occur about November 5.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday unveiled Victoria's "cautious" roadmap out of lockdown, as the state recorded 507 new cases and another death, bringing the toll from the latest outbreak to 11.
He also announced Greater Geelong, the Surf Coast and Mitchell Shire will enter a seven-day lockdown from 11.59pm on Sunday, putting them under the same restrictions as Melbourne and Ballarat.
According to the roadmap, when 80 per cent of Victorians aged over 16 have received a single vaccine dose, outdoor tennis and golf can return and the 10km travel limit increases to 15km.
Once 70 per cent of Victorians are double vaccinated - forecast for October 26 - Melbourne's 9pm-5am curfew will be lifted and the travel limit will increase again, to 25km.
Pubs, restaurants and cafes will be able to open outdoors, with a limit of 50 fully vaccinated people.
Hairdressing can return for the fully vaccinated with a maximum of five people in a salon.
Outdoor gatherings can increase to a maximum of 10 fully vaccinated people or five unvaccinated, while outdoor pools, community facilities, religious gatherings and sport can return with a cap of 50 vaccinated people.
Year 12 students go back to face-to-face learning on October 6, with a staggered return of other years starting with Prep to Year 2s on October 18.
Once 80 per cent of eligible Victorians are vaccinated, retail, gyms, hairdressing and beauty services can reopen for the fully vaccinated, with strict density limits, and hospitality can return indoors. Childcare can also return.
People will be able to have private gatherings of up to 10 vaccinated people, while at Christmas it is expected that will increase to 30.
"We are opening up, no doubt about that, and there will be no turning back. We have got to normalise this, we have got to pass through and beyond this pandemic," Mr Andrews said.
"If you care about nurses, doctors, ambos, cooks and cleaners, everyone in our health system, if they're important to you, then get vaccinated."
Late last week, about 120,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health workers urged the state government to prioritise the health system and its workforce over easing restrictions.
Through their unions, the health workers called for "accurate modelling" on expected ambulance demand, hospitalisations, intensive care patients and deaths.
Burnett Institute modelling commissioned by the Victorian government forecasts the state will reach a peak of between 1400 to 2900 daily COVID-19 cases between October 19 and 31, based on current numbers.
This would lead to a peak of between 1200 to 2500 Victorians requiring hospitalisation, with between 260 and 550 requiring an intensive care bed.
The modelling found a significant easing of restrictions once 80 per cent of people are fully vaccinated means an almost two-in-three chance of another peak in mid-December, which would push hospitalisations over 2500.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton described the roadmap as a "tightrope" between protecting the health system and looking after the wellbeing of Victorians.
"There is no easy pathway," he said.
As of Saturday, more than 200 Victorians are in hospital with the virus, 56 in intensive care and 40 on ventilators.
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Recreation rules will be relaxed in Sydney's hardest hit suburbs as NSW reports 1083 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked people in the 12 LGAs of concern who will now enjoy extra freedoms a week after they were granted to the rest of the state.
"They have led the way in our vaccination rates, they have shown us the way, and what it means to be resilient and strong," the premier said.
Fully vaccinated adults in those government areas will from Monday be able to exercise outdoors with no time limits and gather in groups of five for outdoor recreation within five kilometres from home.
Kids under the age of 12 are not included in those numbers.
Authorised worker conditions and travel permit requirements will remain in place in the LGAs of concern.
The premier said the state is still in a "precarious" situation and case numbers will increase when it reopened at the 70 per cent double vaccination target.
"We are anticipating our worst weeks in ICU and hospitals will be in Ocotber," she said.
Public pools can reopen in NSW from Monday, September 27.
Of the people who died with COVID-19, one person was in their 40s, two in their 50s, two in their 60s, five in their 70s, and three in their 80s.
There are currently 1238 COVID-19 cases in hospital, with 234 people in intensive care, 123 of whom require ventilation.
When asked whether the state had reached or surpassed its 'peak' in case numbers, NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said he did not want to "jump the gun".
"Cases overall have been going up, they have stabilised and appear to be dropping in some areas where we have had rapidly increasing vaccination uptake as well as good compliance," he said.
"But in other areas of the state, particularly in the Illawarra and the Central Coast we have seen inconsistency across the board."
By Friday night, 81.9 per cent of the state's over-16 population had received a first dose vaccine while 51.9 per cent were fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, 1700 police officers were deployed across the state to quash planned demonstrations against stay-at-home orders.
They arrested 32 people and issued 265 infringement notices.
"I'm pleased to see that common sense has prevailed and the vast majority of people have complied with the existing public health orders," Police Minister David Elliott said.
Meanwhile, the union representing prison officers says mandating COVID-19 inoculations for jail staff is "a job half done" and inmates need the jab too.
"To keep NSW jails safe from COVID-19 everyone in the justice system needs to be vaccinated, no excuses," the Public Service Association's Stewart Little said.
All prison officers are required to be double vaccinated by January.
The hair and beauty industry has called on a rethink to an incoming five-client cap when salons reopen.
Australian Hair Council Chief Executive Sandy Chong said the measure would not impact transmission in any "meaningful" way.
"These restrictions are also completely inconsistent with other industries such as fitness and hospitality, which bear similar, if not greater risks of transmission, and will be able to operate without such a restrictive cap," she said.
© AAP 2021
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