In the minutes after midnight struck on Monday morning, Sydneysiders descended on pubs and met with hairdressers as they sought to make the most of their lockdown lifting.
The new freedoms for fully vaccinated residents that came into effect on Monday – as part of the 70% vaccination coverage milestone on New South Wales’ reopening roadmap – also include allowing visitors to the home, abandoning the 5km travel limit and the reopening of most retail and service businesses.
Here are all the freedoms that fully vaccinated people in NSW now have.
Can I visit someone else’s home?
Yes.
Up to 10 visitors, double the previously announced limit of five, can gather at another person’s home, but all adults who ordinarily live in the household must be fully vaccinated. Children under 12 won’t be counted towards that limit.
How many people can gather outside?
Up to 30 people can gather outdoors. They will all have to be vaccinated.
How will pubs, restaurants and cafes work?
Hospitality businesses can reopen under the one person per 4 sq m rule indoors, and one person per 2 sq m for outdoors.
Up to 20 people will be allowed per booking. People under 16 who are unvaccinated can also attend hospitality venues but must be accompanied by a fully vaccinated member of their household.
Masks and QR code check-ins are required indoors but not in outdoor hospitality settings.
Standing up and drinking inside the pub – known in health bureaucrat speak as “vertical consumption” – will not be allowed until 80% vaccination coverage is reached. But if the venue has an outdoor section, patrons can stand up and drink in that area from 11 October.
Can retail shops reopen?
Yes. Stores can reopen to vaccinated customers only with a capacity limit of one person per 4 sq m. Masks and QR codes will still be required.
Unvaccinated people will continue to only be able to access critical retail, like supermarkets and pharmacies.
What about for children under 16? Can they go to all these places?
The new rules apply to anyone over 16.
Children under 16 who aren’t yet vaccinated can still attend places that have reopened, provided they are accompanied by an adult from their household who is fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated adults with a valid medical exemption will also enjoy the freedoms.
Do I still have to wear a mask?
You still have to wear a mask in indoor settings, including on public transport and in shops.
But you don’t have to wear masks outdoors any more if you’re fully vaccinated.
These mask rules apply to everyone over 12 years old.
I’m desperate for a haircut – what are the rules?
Personal services, like haircuts and nail salons, can open with one person per 4 sq m, capped at five clients at a premises at any one time. When 80% vaccine coverage is reached, the cap will be removed but the same density limit will apply.
Are gyms and pools open?
Facilities such as gyms, pools and sporting centres will open under the one person per 4 sq m rule and can offer classes for up to 20 people.
Both outdoor and indoor pools will open but the latter will only be accessible for lessons, lap swimming and rehabilitation activities, not recreation.
Community sport isn’t allowed to restart just yet.
Can I go to the cinema today? Or the library?
Yes. Entertainment and information facilities, such as cinemas, theatres and libraries, are reopening, under the one person per 4 sq m rule and a 75% fixed seating capacity.
Theme parks, racecourses, stadiums and other major recreation facilities are reopening with the one person per 4 sq m rule, capped at 5,000 people. Up to 500 people can attend ticketed and seated outdoor events.
How will weddings, funerals and places of worship work?
These services can now operate with up to 100 guests, with dancing permitted at weddings and eating and drinking only while seated.
Up to 100 people can now attend funerals, with the same eating and drinking rules.
Places of worship will reopen subject to the one person per 4 sq m rule, with singing only permitted for performers. There will be a 10-person limit on choirs, and all performers will have to be fully vaccinated.
So there’s no more 5km travel limit?
That’s right. People in Sydney no longer have to follow the 5km radius rule, and can travel within greater Sydney (including Central Coast, Wollongong, Shellharbour and the Blue Mountains).
Residents of regional local government areas can travel to other areas, but cannot enter Sydney for holidays.
Sydneysiders can not travel regionally, after the NSW government pushed back this freedom to the second stage of reopening.
Carpooling is allowed again, and caravan parks can now reopen.
Great, so what is there to do? Has everywhere opened back up already?
No. Hospitality businesses have reported issues in finding enough staff, who need to be fully vaccinated, to reopen. Many restaurants and venues are staggering their reopening throughout October.
In Sydney, places like the Art Gallery of NSW, the Powerhouse Museum, the Australian Museum and the State Library reopened on Monday. The Museum of Contemporary Art will reopen from Tuesday, while Taronga Zoo reopens on 18 October.
Most chain and independent cinemas reopened on Monday too – and have a backlog of blockbusters to get through that had been scheduled for release during lockdown.
What about unvaccinated people?
Unvaccinated people are left entirely out of the first wave of freedoms. And unvaccinated residents in some parts of regional NSW now not in lockdown will be subject to restrictions from Monday.