NSW has recorded 466 cases in what is the worst day in the pandemic, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed.Ms Berejiklian said a further four people had died overnight.More to comeLockdown rules tightenedPeople will need a permit to travel to regional NSW, and travel to second properties will only be allowed to undertake essential maintenance or tend to animals under a tightening of the public health orders.Singles in restricted local government areas will have to “register” the person they want in their “bubble”, while the word “recreation” will be scrapped to stop people from using it as an excuse to gather in parks and playgrounds.The proposals — put forward by Police Minister David Elliott and Police Commissioner Michael Fuller and adopted on Friday night by crisis cabinet — are aimed at giving police clearer rules to enforce while closing up loopholes.Mr Elliott said the singles bubble was among the regulations being abused.“The problem is people were abusing the singles bubble,” he said.“We had cases of blokes visiting Kylie’s house on Friday, Michelle’s house on Saturday and then it was over to Caroline’s house on Sunday.“That’s how this thing has spread.” NED-4353-NSW-vaccination-ratesFines increasedBreaches of the public health orders will now attract a fine of $5000, up from $1000.Police were hoping for a blanket 5km exercise rule to be put in place, but this was knocked back by crisis cabinet.The proposed rule changes followed a tense meeting between Mr Elliott and Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Tuesday.A senior government source said Mr Hazzard accused Mr Elliott of speaking “waffle” when Premier Gladys Berejiklian asked him what he thought of the Police Minister’s proposals. Mr Elliott and Mr Fuller are also working with the hospitality industry on a plan to allow anybody who is double vaccinated to go to licensed premises next month, starting with beer gardens and outdoor areas. However, Ms Berejiklian yesterday put something of a dampener on such hopes.“What we want to achieve in September and October is to provide some opportunities for people to have an extra thing that they can do which they currently can’t do today, but I don’t want to give the impression it’s going to be freedom all around,” she said. Delta ‘here to stay’In frank comments about the future of the state on Friday, the Premier urged the country to be “realistic” about what life will look like with Delta once the 80 per cent vaccination target was reached. “We need to look around the world as to what’s happened, and be real about it to make sure we have everything we have in our power to reduce the spread, keep people out of hospital, keep people safe and give everyone the chance to get vaccinated,” she said. On Friday, NSW recorded the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began, with 390 new infections. Two more deaths were recorded, including an unvaccinated woman in her 40s from Cabramatta who died at home on Thursday night, and a fully vaccinated Newcastle man in his 90s.NAT – Stay Informed – Social Media
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