{"id":14435,"date":"2022-01-04T19:22:40","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T19:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=14435"},"modified":"2022-01-04T19:22:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T19:22:40","slug":"nsw-government-updates-covid-settings-and-makes-rapid-antigen-tests-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2022\/01\/04\/nsw-government-updates-covid-settings-and-makes-rapid-antigen-tests-free\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW Government updates COVID settings and makes Rapid Antigen Tests free"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NSW Government is taking precautionary steps to maintain its safe and measured approach as we continue to learn to live with COVID.<br \/>\nThe following adjustments to the NSW Government\u2019s pandemic settings will come into effect:<br \/>\nFrom 12.01am Friday, 24 December:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, including for hospitality staff and in offices, unless eating or drinking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From 12.01am Monday, 27 December 2021:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>QR code check-ins will be compulsory, including for hospitality and retail; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hospitality venues, including pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes will move to 1 person per 2 sqm rule indoors, with no density limit for outdoor settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All settings will remain in place until Wednesday, 27 January 2022.<br \/>\nExtending QR check-in requirements will remind people that if they receive a notification they should be tested if they feel unwell. They should also get tested if they are directed by NSW Health or if they have symptoms.<br \/>\nFurther to these measures, the Government is asking people to reduce mingling where they can including when eating and drinking, work from home where possible and hold events outside.<br \/>\nThe NSW Government will continue to monitor these settings.<br \/>\nThe NSW Government will also procure Rapid-Antigen Test kits and make them available for free to people across the State, to give additional options to people and allow those who need to get a PCR test to do so.<br \/>\nPremier Dominic Perrottet said these measures would help take the pressure off our health system and keep the community safe until more people could get their booster shots.<br \/>\n\u201cWe said we would tailor our settings as the situation evolved and these steps will help take the pressure of our health system, so the people who need care can access it,\u201d Mr Perrottet said.<br \/>\n\u201cOur frontline health workers have done an enormous job keeping us safe over the past two years and we can\u2019t thank them enough.<br \/>\n\u201cVaccination remains the key to keeping people safe and out of hospital. It is vital people continue to roll up their sleeves to get vaccinated and receive their boosters.\u201d<br \/>\nHealth Minister Brad Hazzard thanked people for continuing to come forward in large numbers to get tested and urged everyone to follow the restrictions.<br \/>\n\u201cWe thank people for coming out in large numbers to get tested but we need to make sure that tests are available for people who really need it,\u201d Mr Hazzard said.<br \/>\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t have any symptoms, please don\u2019t get a test just for the sake of it. The best thing people can do is follow the rules outlined today. The health and safety of the community continues to be the highest priority.<br \/>\n\u201cI want to again thank NSW Health for the work they are doing in response to the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NSW Government is taking precautionary steps to maintain its safe and measured approach as we continue to learn to live with COVID. The following adjustments to the NSW Government\u2019s pandemic settings will come into effect: From 12.01am Friday, 24 December: Masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, including for hospitality staff and &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2022\/01\/04\/nsw-government-updates-covid-settings-and-makes-rapid-antigen-tests-free\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;NSW Government updates COVID settings and makes Rapid Antigen Tests free&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}