News & Media

Stay at home orders for regional NSW

Mon 16 Aug 2021

To protect the people of NSW from the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, stay at home orders are now in place for the whole state, including all regional NSW until 12:01am Sunday 22 August 2021.

Stay at home orders mean you must only leave home for essential reasons. These include:

• shopping locally (within your local government area (LGA) or, if outside of your LGA, within 5km of your home from 12:01am Monday 16 August). You may travel beyond this area if the goods or services are not reasonably available locally
  
• only one person per household may leave home to shop each day, and browsing in shops is not allowed
• seeking medical care (including COVID-19 testing or getting vaccinated), for an emergency or compassionate needs 
  
• exercising outdoors with one other person within 5km of home or LGA
• essential work or education, where you cannot work or study from home.

When leaving home for essential reasons, anyone over 18 years of age must carry photo identification with evidence of their home address, such as a NSW Photo Card or Drivers Licence, and produce it to a police officer on request.

In addition:

• face masks are compulsory in all indoor non-residential premises, public transport and certain outdoor settings
• visitors to households is not permitted unless you need care (including personal care)
• if you are 18 years and over, get vaccinated as soon as possible. 

Remember, it's vital for anyone showing any symptoms, or those who are a close or casual contact of someone who has tested positive to COVID-19, to get tested immediately, stay home and follow the health advice. 

Information for businesses

Under the stay at home orders, some businesses must be closed to the public. For a full list of impacted businesses and exemptions, please visit nsw.gov.au.

Businesses that can remain open must:

• have a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place
  
• use the NSW Government QR code to check staff, contractors, customers, and delivery drivers in and out. This makes it easier for NSW Health to contact anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 at your business
  
• ensure everyone wears a face mask 
• remind staff to get tested immediately if unwell, even with mild symptoms, and to isolate at home until they have received a negative test result.

To support businesses and workers at this critical time, the NSW Government's 2021 COVID-19 Support Package has been boosted to include additional financial support measures for individuals, sole traders, micro-businesses, small and medium businesses, as well as the creative services industry, and accommodation providers. 

Looking after your business, workers and income is a big concern for many, but mental health during these challenging times is also important. There is support available for individuals and businesses who need it.

Resources

We have developed resources including newsletter/website copy and social tiles to help you communicate the stay at home order and updated measures with your members, community and networks.

Please visit NSW Health for more translated COVID-19 assets available for use.

We know these are challenging times. We thank you for your patience and continued support to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community.