As it happened: Ballarat back in lockdown; curfews lift in Sydney’s LGAs of concern

The curfew for the 12 local government areas of concern in Sydney’s west and south west has officially been omitted from the public health order.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard at 1.27pm this afternoon signed off an amendment to the Public Health (COVID-19 Additional Restrictions for Delta Outbreak) Order (No 2) 2021, putting a line through the curfew from 9pm to 5am.

An explanatory note states: “The object of this Order is to remove the curfew currently in place in areas of concern.”

A statement from Mr Hazzard’s office confirmed the curfew had lifted for the local government areas of Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and the Penrith suburbs of Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair and St Marys.

“This is a whole-of-government decision based on the advice of our health and police experts,” Mr Hazzard said in the statement.

“While the NSW community has achieved this fantastic milestone, it is critical that we do not let our guard down.

“We continue to ask the community to follow the stay-at-home rules, limit their movement and do all they can to keep everyone safe.

“High rates of testing are critical to detecting transmission and preventing further spread of COVID-19 in the community.”

According to the federal government vaccination figures released this afternoon, 80.07 per cent of the NSW population aged 16 and over has received one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 48.53 per cent are fully vaccinated.