Sydney revellers kicked off celebrations to mark the end of hated Covid-19 restrictions on Friday with the partying expected to go well into the early hours.
For the first time in months singing and dancing was allowed in Sydney’s hospitality venues, which have no density limits and no requirement to check in wit a QR code.
Delighted venue owners were hopeful Friday night punters would return immediately and fill their premises, which went quiet with the drastic fun bans.
‘Sydney, the time has come! Are you ready to return to the dance floor?’ The Argyle said in a post ahead of its Pop It Like It’s Hot club night.
‘This is not a drill Sydney and the news we’ve all been waiting for! So kick start your weekend, celebrate some more freedoms and dance like no one’s watching.’
‘And we are back,’ Kings Cross Hotel posted.
‘Restrictions are finally over which means It’s time to dust off the dancing shoes & get ready for some cardio on the D-floor.’
Sydney’s pub and nightclub owners were determined to put a ‘terrible’ few months in the rear-view mirror.
Mitchell Crum, owner of The Lord Gladstone hotel in inner Sydney, said operating throughout Omicron restrictions had been ‘terrible, really hard’.
But he feels the ‘vibe is back’ after he made a Facebook event on Friday to celebrate restrictions easing, which ‘went pretty viral’.
‘Loads of people are keen, loads of people are calling up and booking tables.
‘Over the last few months it’s been hard. Financially, mentally, everything.’
The ‘return to normal’ is being celebrated by Graham Cordery, owner of Surry Hills live music venue The Soda Factory.
‘It’s overdue so it’s going to be amazing – I feel that there’s a real air of positivity,’ he said.
‘Let’s just say it’s definitely about time they put (live music venues) on an equal footing with many, many other industries that are returning to normal,’ Mr Cordery said.
He said since restrictions were introduced in January customers had become ‘even more eager to have those fun times back in Sydney’.
‘We’re just going to do everything that we can to hopefully be one of the leaders in offering people live entertainment.’
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the rollback of a number of COVID-19 restrictions from Friday, including QR code check ins and the ban on singing and dancing in hospitality venues.
Mr Perrottet said it had been a ‘very difficult two years’.
‘Many people have made enormous sacrifices but the efforts that have been made … ensured we’ve seen downward pressure on our hospital system,’ he said.
Singing and dancing are allowed to resume in most settings, the two-metre density limit for indoor venues has been scrapped, and QR check-ins are only required for nightclubs and music festivals with more than 1000 revellers.
The requirement to wear face masks will also cease in most settings next Friday.
NSW on Friday reported 9243 new COVID cases and 15 deaths.
Hospitalisations have fallen to 1381 while intensive care patients remain steady at 92, with 47 on ventilators.
The eight women and seven men who died were aged 50 to in their 90s and five were unvaccinated, including one aged less than 65 who had ‘significant underlying health issues’, NSW Health said.
Research released Friday showed NSW has been able to safely return children to classrooms.
The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance has been tracking coronavirus transmission in schools in conjunction with Sydney University, NSW Health and the education department.
The study was led by Sydney University paediatric infectious disease specialist Archana Koirala, who says there was not a dramatic increase in transmission in school settings despite high numbers of exposures in the final term of 2021.
‘Our findings confirm that vaccination of students and teachers as well as other mitigation measures in schools and the wider community can keep transmission low in educational settings,’ Dr Koirala said.
The data predates the peak of the Omicron outbreak.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk