COVID-19 has impacted our lives for the past six months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, with our community abiding by physical distancing measures under the public health order, we have been able to suppress the community transmission of the virus, particularly in rural areas.
Physical distancing and compliance with recommended hygiene practices has protected our vulnerable community members and ensured our hospitals have not been over burdened.
Now is not the time to drop our guard as the public health orders and restrictions on gatherings and movement ease.
The latest restrictions can be found on the NSW Health website - https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/public-health-orders.aspx.
The public health order was amended on October 16 to update the capacity limits for outdoor areas of hospitality venues (based on one person per two square metres in outdoor areas) and to allow music rehearsals or performances in outdoor public places of more than 20 people.
The order was amended on October 22 to allow bookings of 30 people at hospitality venues, outdoor public gatherings of up to 30 people and gatherings of up to 300 people at places of public worship.
The amended order only requires gymnasiums to have a COVID-19 Safety Hygiene Marshal if there are more than 20 people being allowed to use gymnasium at the same time.
Indoors, the one person per four square meter rule continues to apply, as does the requirement for a COVID safety plan for hospitality venues.
Across The Hume Police District, Local Emergency Management Committees have been reviewing risks associated with COVID-19 to our towns and residents.
One such risk is the increase in tourism in rural areas as people can not travel interstate and are exploring our local area.
Another is the risk of local residents travelling for holidays and returning from areas which may have an outbreak of the virus.
Physical distancing and hand hygiene practices are the first defence and must be considered paramount when interacting in public places.
We are all in this together and we all depend on each other to prevent COVID 19 community transmissions.