Sydney: NSW premier makes face masks mandatory, announces $200 fine for non-compliance

On January 1,  New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian made masks mandatory in the Australian state, including the indoor settings across Greater Sydney from Saturday midnight, as the city recorded seven more COVID-19 cases.

In a state press address, Berejiklian announced that those caught violating the rule will be penalised with $200 for non-compliance. Masks were also mandated across the retail outlets, supermarkets, and shopping centres, salons, public transportation, places of worship, hospitality sector and indoor entertainment venues. “If you are going to shopping centres, catching public transport, attending an entertainment venue like the cinema, you have to wear a mask,” NSW premier said in a live-streamed conference. 

The mask rule was mandated for all residents of Greater Sydney including Wollongong, Central Coast and Blue Mountains. “We want people in NSW to be able to go about their business as much as possible but we need to reduce the risks in certain settings where we know there are challenges,” Berejiklian said in a presser.

Further, she slashed the capacity for the gyms to 30 people, meanwhile, the services of the religious place were restricted to 1 person per 4 square metres. Weddings and funerals were reduced to only 100 maximum individuals to prevent the super spreader event. All outdoor performances were limited to 500 people and the ticketed gathering to 2,000 people, according to a NSW COVID-19 protocols updated on the government’s site. 

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Sydney on 'high alert'

Earlier, Sydney was put on ‘high alert’ after three new ‘mystery cases’ of the novel coronavirus were discovered in Greater Sydney’s northern beaches. The epidemiologist warned that new cluster could spread faster ‘like fire’. In a state press conference, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that the three new cases that have been identified had no immediate link with the northern beach cluster. She imposed the state on "high alert" and urged the residents to get tested for even mildest of symptoms as they approach New Year's Eve. 

Of the total cases linked to the Avalon cluster, one reportedly travelled resided in Wollongong on the NSW south coast and had travelled to Sydney. The others, meanwhile, resided in the inner west and north of Sydney. The mysterious COVID-19 cases were diagnosed from the total 16,329 tests conducted in the 24 hours by 8 pm.

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