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Two people exercising during shutdown
Photograph: Kate Trifo/Unsplash

Restrictions eased in Sydney’s LGAs of concern as NSW reaches 7 million jabs

However, whether fully vaccinated people in hotspot areas of Greater Sydney will be permitted freedoms is still unclear

Maxim Boon
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Maxim Boon
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From 5am on September 3, people living in the 12 hotspot areas of concern in Sydney’s west will be allowed unlimited daily outdoor exercise between 5am and 9pm. Curfews will remain in place, however. People living in the LGAs of concern had previously only been permitted one hour of outdoor exercise per day.

NSW set two new records on September 2. The state reported its highest number of new cases within 24 hours, 1,288 in total. However, in more optimistic news, the state also announced that it had become the first in Australia to have at least one dose of a vaccine administered to 70 per cent of eligible adults, exceeding 7 million jabs in arms. Once the state reaches the two-dose target of 70 per cent of adults, which should be achievable within six to eight weeks, certain businesses will be allowed to reopen to fully vaccinated patrons, although exactly what conditions will be in place is yet to be announced. However, premier Gladys Berejiklian was reluctant to say whether fully vaccinated people living in the hotspot LGAs would be granted the same freedoms as those fully vaccinated people living elsewhere in NSW, saying the state would follow "the health advice".

The state’s chief medical officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said that it was likely that booster jabs would become the norm in the future, “as it is for seasonal flu”. Several countries around the world are now considering whether, given the transmissibility of the Delta strain, if initial vaccinations should require three jabs instead of just two.

Stay up to date with the latest developments in NSW's lockdown. Bookmark the Time Out Sydney news hub.

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