Stay home, stay safe \u2014 that’s the message from Sydney, one of the world\u2019s first major cities to welcome each New Year with a public countdown featuring a fireworks display over its well-known Opera House, to people.<\/p>\n
The city has banned large gatherings that night amid an outbreak of the coronavirus. Because of swift border closures, lockdowns, widespread testing, social distancing and a high rate of public compliance with anti-virus measures, Australia has recorded just over 28,300 infections and 908 deaths related to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
A mid-December resurgence of Covid-19 in the city\u2019s northern beach suburbs has grown to 125 cases after five new infections were recorded on Monday. About a quarter of million of people there must stay in strict lockdown until Jan 9.<\/p>\n
That has led to further restrictions of the already toned-down plans for the New Year\u2019s Eve. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian banned most people from coming to Sydney\u2019s downtown that night and limited outdoor gatherings to 50 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to create any super-spreading events on New Year\u2019s Eve, which then ruins it for everybody across the state moving forward,\u201d Berejiklian said at a news conference, adding that watching the fireworks from home was the \u2018safest\u2019 way to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn New Year\u2019s Eve, we don\u2019t want any crowds on the foreshore around Sydney whatsoever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Only residents with permits for hospitality venues downtown will be allowed there on New Year\u2019s Eve. Households across Sydney are only allowed to host 10 people until further notice.<\/p>\n
And that’s the way it should be everywhere; we’re all happy to be saying goodbye to 2020 but lets continue to practice distancing and take safety measures. And remember, there’s always the option of watching the\u00a0fireworks from home\u00a0and ringing in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stay home, stay safe \u2014 that’s the message from Sydney, one of the world\u2019s first<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n