Millions of New Year’s Eve revellers have been banned from Sydney Harbour and the CBD unless they have a restaurant booking amid fears the midnight celebration will become a super-spreader event

Millions of New Year’s Eve revellers have been banned from Sydney Harbour and the phx naturals cbd review unless they have a restaurant booking amid fears the midnight celebration will become a super-spreader event.

New South Wales recorded another five new local cases of coronavirus on Monday as Premier Gladys Berejiklian tightened restrictions for gatherings across Sydney.

Four of the cases were linked to the hot spot suburb of Avalon, taking the cluster which emerged on 16 December to 126 after 15,000 tests on Sunday.

The fifth local case is linked to a patient on the Northern Beaches whose source of infection is still under investigation. 

Premier Berejiklian said officials still don’t know how the outbreak began, meaning the northern zone of the Northern Beaches will remain locked down until January 9 to stop the disease spreading — but residents will be allowed five visitors from the zone on New Year’s Eve.

The southern zone will be released from lockdown on January 2 — but residents are allowed 10 visitors from the zone on December 31.

Amid fears New Year’s Eve could become a super-spreader event, restrictions will tighten in Greater Sydney from Monday night with public gatherings limited to 50 people, down from 100.

Home gatherings remain limited to 10 visitors. 

Thousands of firefighters, nurses and other frontline workers from across the state were due to watch the fireworks around the Harbour Bridge as a reward for their hard work during such a difficult year — but Premier Berejiklian said another time will be found to thank them.

The iconic 12-minute midnight firework display, which is normally attended by a million people and watched around the world, has been shortened to seven minutes this year to save money during the pandemic.

The premier has told residents to avoid the city centre, saying the decades-old tradition of camping around the harbour to secure a good view is banned.

‘We’re trying to be as generous as possible, but we don’t want to create any superspreading events on New Year’s Eve, that ruins it for everyone,’ she said.

Anyone entering the CBD will need to have a pass from Service NSW to prove they have a booking at a restaurant or are visiting a friend’s home.

The government has also ordered local councils to scrap events unless they can be seated and ticketed outside, with a record of attendees kept.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged residents who want to throw a small party at home to consider hosting barbecues outside. 

‘If you can have a barbecue or go to a park or you got an area such as a reserve, that is a safer environment than having people congregate,’ she said.

‘If you have the mildest of symptoms, do not attend any of those events whether they’re indoors or outdoors. 

‘The last thing you want to do is be responsible for spreading COVID to your loved ones and the broader community,’ she added.

Premier Berejiklian urged residents to avoid kissing and hugging relatives and friends outside their household.

‘When the clock ticks over to midnight from 31 December to 1 January, I know that’s normally an emotional time where we like to kiss and hug everybody around us.

Can I ask for absolute restraint,’ she said. 

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