In the 24 hours to 8pm last night, NSW recorded 271 new cases of COVID-19 from 81,877 tests, with zero deaths recorded in that same period. In NSW, 94.6 per cent of people aged 16 and over have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 92.6 per cent of people aged 16 and over have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The full rundown of today’s statistics available here.

The President of the Children’s Court, Judge Skinner, has issued Coronavirus Public Notice 12 which sets out the Children’s Court’s plans for recovery over the next few months. The notice can be viewed here.

Stakeholders are invited to read the updated procedural guide for Waverley Local Court, which has been finalised by Magistrate Huntsman. As of 1 December 2021, Waverley Local Court will continue to attempt to minimise people attending court in person, to protect the health of court staff, the legal profession, other court users and the community. This is due to space limitations at Waverley Local Court, and the need to implement the NSW Government’s directions for social distancing. The measures implemented are consistent with Chief Magistrate’s Covid-19 Memorandum 24. Read the updated guide here.

The Supreme Court’s registry public counter has reopened and will be operating from 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday until Friday, 17 December 2021. This summary outlines the Supreme Court’s arrangements for the Court and registry during the law vacation period (Monday, 20 December 2021 – Friday, 28 January 2022).

As of Wednesday 1 December, all Legal Aid NSW office doors are open to the public. Clients will continue to receive services without the need to be double vaccinated. Mask wearing and answering screening questions are required for face-to-face client meetings. All frontline staff are double vaccinated. More here.

NSW Health has confirmed a sixth traveller has been infected with the Omicron COVID-19 variant of concern. The fully vaccinated traveller, who recently visited southern Africa, arrived on flight QR908 from Doha to Sydney on 25 November and tested positive to COVID-19 on 30 November. They are isolating in Sydney. There is currently no evidence that transmission occurred on the flight. However, investigations into the five COVID-19 positive passengers on the flight, which includes two confirmed cases with the Omicron variant, are ongoing. The full details from NSW Health are available here.

The NSW Government will increase penalties for non-compliance as it continues to take a precautionary approach to quarantine arrangements for overseas arrivals in line with additional national border security measures by the Australian Government. Consistent with Commonwealth measures, all travellers arriving in NSW who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Malawi during the 14 day period before their arrival in NSW must enter hotel quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status. All other overseas travellers must complete a PCR test and isolate for 72 hours at a nominated address or accommodation. People will only be able to exit isolation at the end of the 72 hour period if they have received a negative result. After exiting isolation people must complete an additional PCR test on day six after arrival and comply with the NSW Health guidelines for recent fully vaccinated arrivals. To help protect the community, the NSW Government has increased penalties for non-compliance with the isolation, testing and quarantine requirements to $5,000 for individuals (up from $1,000) and $10,000 for corporations (up from $5,000). The new penalties came into effect yesterday, 1 December 2021. Full details here.