Everything you can and can’t do in NSW pubs from TODAY

The New South Wales government is tightening restrictions for pubs as a spike in coronavirus cases threatens to plunge the state back into lockdown. 

The number of patrons for any pub, regardless of size, will be capped at 300 and bookings will be limited to 10 people.

A ban on sharing plates and cutlery will be enforced and there will also be a crackdown on mingling at the bar or in communal areas, with only seated service allowed.

The number of patrons for any pub, regardless of size, will be capped at 300 and bookings will be limited to 10 people

Pubs will be told to better enforce social distancing in queues after the Golden Sheaf in Sydney was fined $5,000 for allowing hundreds of patients to mingle while waiting to enter. 

Any venue with more than 250 patrons must employ a full-time martial to police social distancing.  

Customers must sign in to every pub they enter so they can be contacted in the event another patron tests positive. Previously only one person per group had to sign in.

Any business breaking the rules can be fined up to $55,000 and the owners can face six months in jail – but on the spot fines of $5,000 are more likely. 

The new rules will only apply to pubs and not to restaurants, clubs and other venues. 

NSW reported 13 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, two returned travellers, one close contact and 10 people linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster. 

Ms Berejiklian reiterated that life would not return to ‘normal’ until a vaccine was secured and refused to rule out tightening restrictions further.

‘In a pandemic, many people indoors is a much higher risk than many people outdoors in a seated venue,’ Ms Berejiklian told 2GB radio on Tuesday.

A ban on sharing plates and cutlery will be enforced and there will also be a crackdown on mingling at the bar or in communal areas, with only seated service allowed

Ms Berejiklian said she also wanted to see pub and hotel patrons restricted to seated service. Pictured: Queues for venues in King’s Cross

‘It’s not necessarily the numbers – it’s what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Even five or six people mingling around the bar at a hotel is a huge no-no.’

Ms Berejiklian said she also wanted to see pub and hotel patrons restricted to seated service, banned from use of cutlery stations and forced to socially distance in queues.

It comes after a growing cluster of 28 cases developed from the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, south-west Sydney. 

All patrons of the pub who entered from July 3 to 10 must self-isolate and are being urged to get tested as a precaution. Investigations are ongoing to determine the source of the infection, with further test results expected this week.

Police are working with Liquor and Gaming to investigate if the hotel breached any guidelines.

An aerial view of traffic streaming into the Crossroads Hotel in south-west Sydney for coronavirus testing

Medical staff at a pop-up COVID-19 testing clinic in Casula perform tests on drivers on July 11

One of the patients linked to the venue tested positive after also visiting The Star in Sydney on July 4.

NSW Chief Health Officers Dr Kerry Chant said other venues across Sydney may have been exposed to the virus between June 27 and July 10 after visits from people linked to the outbreak.

These include Picton Hotel, Planet Fitness gym in Casula, Canterbury Leagues Club, Narellan Town Centre and Zone Bowling in Villawood. People who visited between these dates have been urged to watch for symptoms and get tested.

Victorian health authorities also on Monday confirmed two residents had tested positive in the southern state after recently travelling to Merimbula on the southern NSW coast.

The Queensland government on Tuesday declared the Liverpool and Campbelltown local government areas as COVID-19 hotspots.

Residents and visitors to those areas who seek to enter Queensland will be forced into 14 days of hotel quarantine.