NSW Health will establish a new COVID-19 Safety Expert Panel of immunisation and other clinical specialists,to review potential adverse events following immunisation,and an inquiry under the Public Health Act 2010.
NSW recorded its 11th consecutive day of zero community transmission on Thursday,with three cases in returned overseas travellers,ahead of mask and indoor gathering restrictions easing on Friday.
From 12.01am on Friday,up to 30 visitors can gather in households in NSW,with 50 people outdoors,while masks will no longer be compulsory in retail shopping venues.
Ms Berejiklian on Thursday defended the decision to remove the mask mandate in retail settings,while maintaining the rule for hospitality workers,and those on public transport and in places of worship.
Loading
“You’re in and out[of retail] and the risk of community transmission is extremely low. At this stage we are reverting it to strongly recommended. I think it’s not complicated and I think the public understand the difference,” she told ABC radio.
The Premier said she was relieved to learn Queensland would ease its border restrictions with NSW,saying there was “no justification” for internal border restrictions in Australia.
Ms Berejiklian added that she felt positive about easing restrictions for hospitality venues to the one person per two square metre rule in two weeks,with the coming rollout of the vaccine likely to allow even greater relaxation of restrictions.
“I’m confident once a certain proportion of the population has access to the vaccine we can look at further easing ... but it will be a journey which will be a logistical exercise and quite complex.”
Australia hasextended its suspension of the travel bubble with New Zealand for a further 72 hours,until Sunday afternoon,after two more community cases linked were reported.
Twelve people who had been quarantined in Auckland’s Pullman Hotel between December 30 and January 13 have since arrived in Australia - seven to NSW - and are subject to quarantine until they receive a negative test result.
However a NSW Health spokesman said more travellers were potentially exposed at the Pullman,with the exposure period extended to January 24. Health authorities are working to contact any affected travellers to ensure they undertake testing and isolation.
As state borders prepare to reopen to more than 5 million Sydneysiders next week,airlines are rushing to add more flights into Queensland.
Loading
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the decision to open the border was made with the confidence that there had been no unlinked cases of COVID-19 in NSW in the past 28 days.
South Australia also announced that a relaxation of its border restrictions would commence on Sunday,January 31,while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is set to announce the easing of travel restrictions on Friday.
Health authorities have repeated their pleas for increased testing,with just 7809 tests processed during the latest reporting period,a dip on the 9723 tests recorded the previous day.
Start your day informed
Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights. Sign up toThe Sydney Morning Herald’s newsletterhere,The Age’shere,Brisbane Times’here,andWAtoday’shere.