Dancing, singing banned in Sydney as virus cluster grows to 68
20 December, 2020
Dancing, singing and chanting were banned across Sydney in a brand new round of restrictions introduced Sunday as Australian authorities raced to regulate an evergrowing coronavirus outbreak in the city.
As thousands of individuals on Sydney's northern beaches awoke to the first day of simple lockdown, authorities announced another 30 coronavirus cases have been detected in the area.
That brings the COVID-19 cluster in Australia's most populous city to 68 cases since it emerged Thursday, causing alarm among health officials, who issued stay-at-home orders for many beachside suburbs.
New South Wales state -- which incorporates Sydney -- on Sunday announced bans on dancing, singing and chanting at indoor venues across the location except at small weddings and religious services.
"It's the season whenever we all want to be singing," state health minister Brad Hazzard said. "But also for the moment, it is probably one of the most dangerous exercises that can be done, dancing and singing."
Sydney restaurants, bars and cafes will be forced to limit patron numbers to 300 people while caps of 10 are also located on visits to homes.
Mask-wearing is being encouraged but is not made compulsory.
Officials have promised to examine the rules Wednesday in the hope some restrictions could be lifted before Christmas Day.
The latest outbreak has thrown Christmas plans into disarray, as much Australians who hoped to reunite with family after long separations were forced to cancel travel after new domestic border closures.
On Sunday, Victoria and South Australia became the latest states to announce Sydney residents will be at the mercy of mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days on entry.
Australia has largely prevailed in containing the virus, taking an aggressive approach devoted to imposing early and frequently far-reaching restrictions in response to new outbreaks.
The united states has recorded just over 28,100 COVID-19 cases and 908 deaths in a population around 25 million.
Source: japantoday.com