Within the nation of Australia, parts of regional New South Wales saw their COVID-19 lockdown lifted as of yesterday. With these particular areas having reached the initial stepping stone 70% double vaccination target imposed by the government, a handful of societal restrictions are being lifted, including the ability to visit outdoor public swimming pools.
As of yesterday, vaccinated and unvaccinated people can visit outdoor NSW public pools, however, the number of people allowed to gather differs for these groups. Unvaccinated people can gather in groups of two, while vaccinated people can gather in groups of five. (Daily Mail)
Regardless of vaccination status, swimmers will be held to a two-hour maximum time slot, with changing rooms remaining closed.
However, as the state’s goal is to achieve 80% vaccination by December 1st, the freedoms granted to vaccinated versus unvaccinated people will continue to have stark differences until that time.
“Unlike most cases in the world, if you are not vaccinated you will have to wait at least four or five weeks … in order to participate in things that the rest of us can participate in,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a televised briefing.
The state of New South Wales has seen 60,561 cases and 370 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The state’s population is estimated to be 8.2 million people.