With COVID-19 not going away anytime soon, the NSW government continues to impose new restrictions and rules to help prevent the virus from spreading. In fact, there is a public health order for almost everything, including workplaces, schools, traveling, and events. Thus, you must always be informed and updated since rules are quickly changing.
This is especially true when it comes to attending events and gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are caught breaching some of the public health orders, you may be fined a maximum of $11,000, and/or imprisonment for 6 months. Thus, if you don’t want to end up paying for hefty fines, you need to keep up with the current rules and regulations.
However, with many restrictions in place, it might get confusing and you may easily miss a few important things. So to help you, here are a few guidelines that you should know about before going to an event during COVID-19.
1. Symptoms
If you are showing any symptoms of COVID-19, do not go to any event, and immediately get tested. This includes having a fever, cough, loss of smell or taste, sore throat, and experiencing shortness of breath.
2. Physical Distancing
At the event, although it is not mandatory, the NSW Government recommends that a 1.5 metres distance should be kept between guests. Also, avoid having close contact with other guests where possible. This means limiting hugging, kissing, or even shaking of hands. While this may be difficult, especially at weddings where you want to congratulate the newlyweds and greet other guests, it is important in helping reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.
3. Hygiene
When you’re at an event, remember to wash your hands regularly. You should also take an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in case soap and water are not readily available. Additionally, avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose, especially with unwashed hands.
4. Face Masks
While face masks are not mandatory in NSW, the government strongly recommends it, especially when it’s difficult to maintain the 1.5 metres distance - which will be the case in events and gatherings. Also, if you are attending a wedding at a place of worship, make sure to take one with you.
Sure, wearing a face mask wouldn’t make you look too good in photos even when taken by a Sydney professional photographer. However, with the community transmission happening in the state, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?
5. Number of Guests
Where is the venue of the gathering? Will it be at a residence? If so, then take note that there should only be up to 20 visitors in the household at any given time. This includes adults and children. If there are more than 20, every person inside (including you) will be held responsible for breaching the public health order.
The same number of people also applies to outdoor public gatherings. So if the event is taking place in a public park, beach, garden, and reserve, the total number of people allowed to attend is only 20. On the other hand, the maximum number of people who can attend a wedding is up to 150 people. However, this is subject to the 4-square metre rule. This means, only 1 person is allowed for every 4 square metre of space. Thus, when the venue is only 200 square metres, there should only be 50 guests.
For funerals, wakes, and memorial services, there should be only 1 person per 4 square metre or up to 100 people, whichever is lesser.
6. Leave Your Information
When you’re going to attend a wedding, funeral, memorial services, or wake, you will be required to leave your name and contact details. This is to help speed up contract tracing in case a person from the event tests positive.
7. Border Restrictions
If you are considering attending an event, you may want to check the latest border restrictions first. If the event you are invited to is within NSW then you can easily attend. However, if it’s outside, then you may need to process a permit, prepare to go into self-quarantine for 14 days, or just skip the event altogether.
So, if you are leaving NSW, you will be subject to border restrictions of other states or territories you are planning to enter. For instance, Queensland closed its borders to NSW on August 8th and you’ll need a permit to enter.
Now, there you have it. These are just some of the guidelines to keep in mind when you are planning to attend parties and special events during the pandemic. While everything may seem a bit restricting, we have come such a long way since the start of COVID-19. And we are hoping (and praying) that we can all have fun and enjoy parties the way we used to pretty soon.
About Simona Janek
Simona Janek is a Sydney based portrait photographer and a makeup artist.
She specialises in business headshots, maternity portraits, boudoir and fashion style portraits for women. Simona believes every woman deserves a beautiful portrait and is passionate about capturing timeless images to treasure forever!
About Faces Makeup and Hair
Faces Makeup and Hair is one of the most celebrated and reputable makeup and hair teams in the Sydney bridal industry. We are a top rated supplier at Easy Weddings easyweddings.com.au, as well as a finalist in both makeup artist and hair stylist categories of the Australian Bridal Industry Academy every year since inception. More recently, we have been awarded with finalist nominations by the Australian Small Business Champion Awards, the Local Business Awards (Northern Districts) and the national Designer of Dreams Awards. In 2019, we were crowned by Wedding Diaries as the Editor's Choice Awards Winner.
Our team is specialised in enhancing the natural beauty of brides. We bring out your individuality and the best of you. Our small, close-knit and experienced team bring our professional bridal makeup and hair styling services to you not only in Sydney, but also in other regions, including the Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Newcastle, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands and Wollongong.
Our team has multiple language capabilities including Mandarin, Korean, Cantonese and Indonesian.
We are taking 2020 and 2021 bookings.
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