NSW recorded zero new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. There were three new cases in returning overseas travellers, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,943. Today is the 25th day in a row with no locally acquired cases in NSW. More information here.

With 25 consecutive days of no locally acquired cases in NSW, the NSW Government has announced an easing of restrictions following updated advice from the NSW Chief Health Officer.  The following measures will be effective from 12.01am Friday, 12 February for the Greater Sydney region including Wollongong, Central Coast and Blue Mountains:

• Masks will only be mandatory on public transport, but will strongly be encouraged in other indoor venues where social distancing is not possible.
• 1 person per 2sqm will apply at all venues, except for gyms. Weddings and funerals will still be subject to a 300 person cap. 

Read more about the changes here.

NSW Health is continuing to screen passengers arriving on flights from Victoria. Any person who enters NSW from Victoria by air or rail is required to complete a passenger declaration form. The Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport has been added to the list of high-risk locations for screening of these passengers and NSW Health is contacting any person already in NSW who was at the hotel from 27 January to 9 February advising them to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days since being there, regardless of the result. More information here.

The EU approved its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine to Australia today. Australia’s COVID-19 vaccines will become available in phases, with priority groups receiving the first doses. Priority groups have been identified using public health, medical and epidemiological evidence on who would be most affected if they contracted COVID-19, and those most likely to be exposed. More on the roll out here.

The Court of Appeal has announced changes to its processes due to the public health responses arising out of COVID-19.  With the re-opening of the Registry to the general public, there is no longer a need to make an appointment to lodge appeal books.  Appeal books can be lodged with the Registry at any time during its usual business hours. Similarly, the delivery by parties of hard copies of the authorities mentioned at [32] of the Practice Note to Level 12 for upcoming hearings will also resume. The Court would appreciate if the profession could also continue to provide electronic copies of the appeal books and White Folders for upcoming hearings. More information available here.

Dedicated COVID-19 cleaning squads will help protect the community by ramping up cleaning services at key transport hubs across the Sydney CBD. The dedicated cleaning squad will also provide face masks to commuters at transport hubs including Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay and Martin Place. Over 1000 touchpoints will be cleaned during each shift to help stop any potential spread of COVID-19. Key touchpoints include transport hub stops, waiting areas and bike racks. The additional summer transport services will be extended to March 2021 to help keep commuters safe as more people return to the CBD. More details here.

The National Cabinet has agreed that in order to bring together economic and health considerations and to provide increased certainty and confidence to the Australian community, all States and Territories will establish a taskforce to work together to provide recommendations to the National Cabinet about consistent and coordinated COVID-19 responses across jurisdictions in the new risk environment. The new Taskforce will consider the changed risk indicators associated with new strains of the COVID-19, alongside the strength of risk responses to date and in the future, including most significantly the impact of the vaccine rollout which is due to commence later this month. Details on the recent meeting of the National Cabinet available here.