announcing three cases traced to the northern beaches and already in isolation and then “a couple” of cases not traced to Avalon. Okay Premier.

and off to the thank you comms; the promises of post 2 Jan “relief” to southern northern beaches residents; and the sympathy fur northern northern beaches residents. They are reminded to support business and buy takeaway while under stay at home orders.

next talking point is to abide by NYE regulations and exercise “individual responsibility”. The “couple” of untraced/mystery/unlinked/intermediary cases get another mention. One is a person in Wollongong who was in “Sydney”.

Berejiklian hands off to Dr Kerry (sic) who repeats the “three people already in isolation” formulation of confirmed cases. She updates on the negative results for all tested passengers on the Griffith-Sydney flight. Repeats sympathy for northern northern beaches message.

and more repetition, the NYE individual responsibility message; the “common sense” message; the stay home message. Police up next.

the brass tells us police will be out and about. Reminds us that only people with permits - basically, access to private property - will be allowed into the CBD. Police have powers to issue move on orders - which is same as every other year.

Qs. First up is what can Dr Chant tell us about the two untraced cases? She repeats the three linked cases line first. Then says it was important to release information about the “couple” of mystery/unlinked cases(?) which were notified late last night and this morning.

Q: where is the other unlinked case?
A: inner west.
*in their opening announcements, only Wollongong was mentioned.
Dr Chant then defaults back to thanking everyone.

oh yeah and the Sydney CBD area, where only people with access to private property can go, and nobody else is allowed, is the GREEN ZONE.

more promotion of stay trading etc. more sympathy for northern beaches residents. More open ended promises of “relief” to be announced 3 Jan for southern northern beaches residents and “very soon” “relief” for northern northern beaches residents.

asked about a future vaccine rollout, Berejiklian says they are making decisions on the assumption there is no vaccine until such time as a vaccine is rolled out.

she then says she is unhappy with the idea of exemptions from quarantine and that includes people coming from overseas. Which I thought are the only people quarantine applied to and residents self-isolate but idk I’m finding the rule designations pretty confusing all round.

Q: Sydney Test?
A: Cricket Australia are making that decision now and are due to announce at 11:30am. Like in a few minutes.

asked about the 50 max outdoor and 10 indoor and how that applies to boats on the Harbour, the Premier says to limit unnecessary activity and that includes boating. Then hands off to the cop.

the cop says the marine cops will be on the harbour policing square metre rules on boats. If there was clarity around max numbers, indoor/outdoor and 1.5 distancing v sq. metre rule on boats, I missed it.

asked again about the cricket, Berejiklian says it is out of her hands, she hopes Cricket Australia will consider all their options, and she hopes for a ticketed, reduced capacity, covid safe outdoor event.

Berejiklian says that she does want to be parochial but she will say that the overreaction by some other state premiers is over the top.

northern beaches wedding? The cop confirms that bride and groom are from the northern beaches and calls it “inappropriate behaviour”.

square meter rule on boats again. The cop passes tis to Dr Chant. She asks people to confine boating to household, use common sense, not go out if you have symptoms, and assess the size of below decks.

Chant repeats her advice to check the updated venues list (reminder: it includes public transport routes and is MASSIVE) in case you “inadvertently” went to one of those sites. This is the “blameless spread” messaging to encourage people to come forward and get tested.

Berejiklian repeats her narrative about keeping everybody safe and keeping the economy open and off they went. No Health Minister today. No regulation authorising $5,000 fines for failing to apply NSW Health QR app by 1 Jan or maybe 8 Jan yet either (or not that I can find).

this can not be overstated: days ago, Victoria clearly designated regional NSW green zone (access to all); Greater Sydney amber (later red) zone; and northern beaches a hot zone (no-go). From yesterday, Berejiklian labelled access to Sydney CBD private property a green zone.

it may seem counterintuitive for green zone to mean prohibited zone for everybody except those with access to extremely expensive privately owned Sydney CBD property. In reality, this codification by the Berejiklian government exactly, precisely reflects Liberal Party values.

not to mention this utter elitism. Sydney City cancels fireworks; Berejiklian takes over fireworks claiming it is for frontline workers; Berejiklian cancels Harbourside ticketing for frontline workers; meanwhile Crown “green zone” Casino at Barangaroo re-opens. https://twitter.com/iamemilymayo/status/1343452500200865792

in other words, Berejiklian weaponised front line workers during a pandemic outbreak as cover for spending public money on fireworks that only rich people can view irl at venues which deliver profits to even richer people.