As Melbourne eases on restrictions, the mandatory face mask rule has just hit the streets of NSW like the unfortunate but inevitable domino effect that has become all too familiar throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian made the announcement during a press conference on June 18, saying face masks will be mandatory on public transport in Greater Sydney for the next five days, as the COVID-19 cluster continues to grow.
The new restrictions will be put in place from 4pm today, Friday, June 18, and will continue for five days until Wednesday, June 23. Although face masks will only be mandatory on public transport, residents of Sydney are encouraged to wear them in indoor settings, especially in venues located in the eastern suburbs.
NSW residents living in the Central Coast, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains will be excluded from the restrictions.
“In relation to mask-wearing, we are recommending that if you go to an indoor (Sydney) venue you wear a mask, whether it is a cinema, hospitality or front-line hospitality workers,” said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
“Our intention is what we have announced today will get us through the next few days unless there are unexpected things that come up.
“If the situation changes of course we will have to come back and ask the community to do more.”
The NSW government is taking these precautions as a new positive case was detected in a man who may have contracted COVID-19 through “fleeting contact”, which as Melburnians know all too well, means that you can transmit by simply walking past someone with the virus.
With a growing list of exposure sites in NSW and concern that the Delta variant is at play, NSW residents are understandably bracing themselves for further restrictions in the coming days.
In any case, it’s time to whip out that cute handmade face mask you wishfully stashed away in your undies drawer.
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