NSW LGA hotspot staff need permit from Sat

Print staff travelling to work into, around, or out of any one of the 12 Sydney LGAs of concern are facing further restrictions on going to work, with a permit needed from Saturday.

From Saturday print staff who live in one of the 12 LGAs and who want to go to work have to carry a permit from NSW declaring that they are an authorised worker and that they cannot work from home.

Also from saturday staff who live outside those LGAs, but who come to work at a printshop that is located in one of them, also need an authorised worker permit to go to work.

And from next Monday workers in the 12 Sydney LGAs of concern will need either proof they have had at east one dose of a vaccine, or have rapid antigen testing implemented at their work-site, to go outside their LGA.

The permits will be available on the Service NSW website, although they are still not there yet. Click here to get to the website.

The LGAs of concern are Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and some suburbs of Penrith.

Print businesses are allowed to operate in all Australian states under lockdown, as suppliers to essential services. They must adhere to a Covid-safe plan and to workplace Covid protocols, which include wearing masks at all times.

Print staff who live in one of the 12 LGAs can only go to work outside their LGA if they are printing packaging for food and beverage, or other printing essential supply chain products, such as healthcare products. The 12 LGAs of concern are now under a curfew from 9pm-5am, but authorised workers are exempt, but again they need to carry their permits.

The new rules have come in as Sydney faces an escalating crisis, with case numbers topping 800 in each of the last few days. Lockdown in Sydney has been extended for another month, until the end of September. 

The Victoria lockdown is due to end on 2 September, but case numbers there are going up, and although they remain a fraction of the NSW numbers the lockdown is likely to be extended. The whole state of Victoria is now in lockdown, as is the ACT, which is also seeing escalating case numbers. Queensland, SA, WA and Tasmania remain virtually virus free and are operating with few restrictions.