Millions of Australians will get a fresh taste of freedom on Friday with a raft of restrictions easing including the much-hated mask rule and dancing at nightclubs.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and his Victorian counterpart Daniel Andrews both revealed most rules introduced in December will be scrapped from Friday as the Omicron surge dies down.
Meanwhile, COVID restrictions are “under review” in Queensland and there is speculation the Western Australian border could open within weeks.
Booster vaccinations are continuing to rise across the country, with less daily infections and hospitalisations.
Here is a list of what is happening in every State and Territory.
NEW SOUTH WALES
QR codes have been scrapped from all retail and hospitality venues except for nightclubs and large music festivals.
Dancing and singing is allowed at all venues just in time for revellers to celebrate over the weekend.
Hospitality density limits have also been dumped and the work-from home direction no longer exists in NSW, with Mr Perrottet urging people to get back into the city.
From February 25, a new suite of changes will come into effect in NSW including masks only being required on public transport, airports, aged-care facilities, correctional facilities and hospitals.
Hotel quarantine isolation requirements for unvaccinated travellers will be shortened to seven days from Monday, February 21.
Elective surgeries are also set to return in metropolitan areas after being paused to relieve pressure on the health care system.
Singing and dancing will be permitted at music festivals and the 20,000 person cap is set to go.
However, revellers attending a music event with more than 1000 patrons will need to be fully vaccinated.
Mr Perrottet on Thursday said a plummeting number of infected people in hospital was the reason behind the changes.
“This is what the new world looks like as the pandemic moves to an endemic phase,” Mr Perrottet said.
“There are very pleasing signs now in hospitals at the moment right across our state. And so as a result we are lifting a range of restrictions,” he said.
“From time to time, we will see cases increase … This is the new reality.”
Mr Perrottet said the government is pushing to get people back into Sydney’s CBD to revive the economy, urging employers to encourage workers to return to the office.
VICTORIA
A raft of changes are coming to Victoria from 6pm Friday, including density limits in hospitality and entertainment venues being scrapped.
Dancefloors will reopen while QR codes in retail, schools and childcare centres will no longer be needed.
Masks will remain compulsory indoors and rules around working from home will remain in place for at least one more week.
Hotel quarantine requirements for unvaccinated international travellers will also change, with the isolation period set to change to seven days instead of 14.
The decision to ease rules has been attributed to the number of infected people in hospital more than halving over the past month.
“We have made it very clear that we will do everything we can to normalise this virus – to push beyond it to get as close to normal living normal activity as we could possibly achieve,” Mr Andrews said on Thursday.
“That’s always based on health advice. It’s always based on science and the numbers of the day and trends that we see numbers of people in hospital for instance.
“But having seen Omicron peak, and in seeing the numbers continue to fall over these last few weeks, the Minister has made a number of decisions.”
However, the Premier made clear eased restrictions didn’t mean the State was yet out of the COVID woods.
“I know what everybody wants – they want to be able to take their mask off inside and they want to be able to get back to normal working life,” he said.
“We just have to wait a little bit longer, but that’s where we’re headed.”
Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp said the rule changes tell residents it is safe to go back into crowded environments.
“It’s OK to boogie the night away again,” Ms Capp told Today.
“It really says a lot about moving us from Covid-caution to Covid-confidence and we need all of that here in Melbourne and Victoria.”
QUEENSLAND
Omicron cases are also falling in Queensland, with the current set of restrictions “under review” by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The state recorded 39 new deaths and 5665 Covid cases on Thursday, with all deaths aged over 50 and 21 in aged care.
Chief health officer John Gerrard earlier this week revealed the current restrictions are under review as the Omicron wave seems to be coming to an end.
Face masks and vaccination mandates could be removed within weeks, meaning Queenslanders can stop wearing masks indoors.
The review will also consider whether unvaccinated residents will continue to be banned from hospitality venues and non-essential businesses.
“All of them are currently under review given that this Omicron wave is coming to an end,” Dr Gerrard said.
“If some of these restrictions were to be withdrawn … such as masks then that would be purely on the understanding that if there was a resurgence of infection then masks will be reintroduced, say if that would happen in the winter.”
“We’ll still see cases, the virus isn’t going to go away – we’re still going to see transmission of the virus heading into winter.”
Premier Palaszczuk confirmed she would be taking the advice from the chief health officer before making an announcement about restrictions.
“It has been a lot better than we were anticipating and let me say, not as many sleepless nights as was during the start of this wave when we saw the expectation of those really high numbers,” she said.
“Coming off the wave is absolutely good news.”
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The West Australian border announcement could come at any moment as the state’s booster program and children vaccination rate continue to grow.
A government source revealed Premier Mark McGowan has set a goal to reopen borders on the weekend of March 12-14.
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson is currently conducting last-minute hospital checks, with an announcement expected by the end of the month.
Mr McGowan on Wednesday refused to say when the review on the changes is set to be completed, but it is “currently underway” with the state on track to ease border restrictions.
“I can‘t give you an exact answer when, but clearly with our vaccination rates growing very significantly and the eastern states coming off the peak and children’s vaccination rates growing, and as case numbers climb here, we’ll reach an outcome at some time and we’ll make that announcement during this month,” he said this week
Up to 53 per cent of WA residents have received their booster vaccination.
The Premier said it was a good sign infection rates in eastern states “appear to be declining” since the Omicron peak in January.
“You can’t pre-empt the review, it would be inappropriate and improper to do that,” he said.
“No doubt we’ll reach an announcement sometime during February.”
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Businesses in the Northern Territory are calling on the Government to lift COVID restrictions around masks and QR codes, but it has stood firm.
Remote communities throughout the NT are battling COVID-19 outbreaks with 1,045 new cases recorded on Thursday.
There is currently a Territory-wide mask mandate, meaning everyone above the age of 12 must wear a mask indoors when social distancing is not possible.
The Federal Government has also declared biosecurity zones to restrict movement between remote communities in the NT in a bid to stop the virus from spreading.
Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said she would not commit to changing the current COVID restrictions as cases continue to spread.
“We meet as a security emergency management committee of the cabinet regularly, we get our latest briefings from the chief health officer and we take those into account in the decisions that we make,” Ms Manison said.
“It’s important to note that we also have business representation in there through the head of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade sits there as part of the section too because we do not just keep a health focus, we also have an economic focus in there as well so business consideration is something that we get.”
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Adelaide’s Fringe festival is kicking off on Friday, prompting major warnings for possible super-spreading events.
The state recorded 1440 new cases on Thursday and three deaths.
Premier Steven Marshall said the current restrictions in place in the state will ensure the Fringe promotes outdoor activity and remains safe.
“It’s safe to come out to the Fringe,” he said.
“SA Health have been working with the Adelaide Fringe and all of the venues on their COVID management plans. There are Covid marshalls, it’s safe, people will be QR code checking in.”
Just last week South Australia eased its COVID restrictions, allowing home gatherings to increase from 10 to 50 and fitness classes to operate with one person per four square metre.
Hospitality venues are now allowed 75 per cent capacity outdoors and customers are allowed to stand.
Workplaces are also allowed up to 50 per cent occupancy, however masks remain compulsory indoors.
The Premier has not revealed when restrictions are set to ease further.
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
The Omicron outbreak has dropped dramatically in Canberra since mid-January with hopes for it to be over completely by the end of March.
Visitors were allowed back into ACT hospitals from Wednesday after they were previously banned.
Patients are now allowed two visitors per day, but only one at a time.
ACT Health said the decision to ease restrictions came after carefully considering the COVID-19 situation in the territory.
“Visitors to clinical areas where patients are at higher risk of severe disease will still need to apply directly to the health facility for an exemption,” a health spokesman said on Wednesday.
However, ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith cautioned againsxjmtzywt over-optimism and said basic health policies like mask wearing would need to stay in place for some time.
“We were going into a situation where schools were going back and people are moving around the community more,” she said.
“But we were also seeing a reduction in cases, so we weren‘t quite sure how that was going to play out.”
TASMANIA
Tasmania has remained one of the least affected states in the country, with the state keeping the Omicron variant out until vaccination numbers were high.
The island state opened to the rest of the country for good on December 15 and has recorded 35,267 infections since.
Face masks are still mandatory in indoor spaces, including on planes and the Spirit of Tasmania, and in health and aged care settings.
It is required for people over the age of 12 to wear a mask in all public indoor spaces under the Public Health Act including indoor private events, offices, retail, supermarkets, shopping centres, hairdressers, hotels, restaurants and pubs.
Tasmanians can remove their masks to eat or drink but the advice is to put it on immediately after.
Masks are required at fitness studios and gyms except while doing intense physical exercise, and on all public transport.
Premier Peter Gutwein said an announcement regarding the use of the Public Health check-in app is expected to be made later this week.
