Families will find out on Wednesday morning whether they can visit relatives in aged care over Christmas as Sydney's COVID-19 cluster grew by eight on Tuesday.
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The state government last weekend banned aged care visits across NSW until at least midnight Wednesday.
The government will revisit the health advice for aged care on Wednesday after assessing how the latest outbreak is spreading.
New cases have slowed in recent days after peaking last weekend. The government announced 30 new positive tests on Sunday, 15 on Monday and eight on Tuesday. A record 44,000 people were tested on Monday.
Aged care residents account for more than half of coronavirus deaths in NSW, 28 out of 55, since the pandemic arrived early this year.
Asked on Tuesday if it would be too risky to open aged care to visitors, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would continue to take a "cautionary approach".
"There's no doubt the trends are where we would like them to be ... but the threat of the virus spreading is there," she said.
The Hunter has been excluded so far from new restrictions on gatherings and venues in greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and Central Coast.
"At this stage there's no reason for us at all to consider changes to what's happening in regional communities," Ms Berejiklian said.
She said deciding whether to ease restrictions would be "much easier if it wasn't this time of year".
"We need to consider mental health issues, we need to consider what people are going through."
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Former Newcastle resident Kylie Jacques, who lives in Darwin, will miss a Christmas gathering with her parents due to recently reintroduced border restrictions.
Ms Jacques' mother and father, John and Jan Turnbull, who are in their seventies, live at home in Rankin Park but have not seen their two teenage grandchildren for a year.
"People who are 75 are thinking they're coming to the end of their life and are they going to be able to see their family," she said. "I think that's a big impact on the older generation, especially in nursing homes."
Ms Jacques said on Tuesday that her family would face two weeks in quarantine, inside a small tin shed Territorians call a "donga", at a cost of $3000 if they ventured into NSW.
"Regardless of whether they're in aged care, some people are feeling very vulnerable, very cranky, very frustrated," she said.
"A lot of people were looking forward to that and now, with the limitations with travel and restrictions, a lot of people are disappointed and angry at the people who have done this."
NSW regional residents, including those in Newcastle and the Hunter, can still enter other states except Western Australia, though some require a permit.
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IN THE NEWS:
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
