Sydney’s midnight fireworks will still go ahead as planned despite the recent lockdown restrictions caused by the Northern Beaches coronavirus cluster.
It’s good news for the lucky few with a view over the harbour. For the rest of us watching on TV, it’ll suffice.
“The actual display itself, the seven minutes of fireworks at midnight, will be happening no matter what,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday.
“But I’ll certainly be watching it from home and we encourage everybody else to do that as well.”
Keep in mind the 9 PM family fireworks were scrapped months ago.
Over the past few days, health authorities have been urging people not to leave their areas if possible, and not to gather in large groups.
While it’s still technically legal to go visit a few mates on the other side of the city (unless you’re in the Northern Beaches), it’s not advisable while we’re all trying to nab this cluster in the ass once and for all.
Venues that accepted bookings under the previous restrictions of one guest per two square metres will now have to “reevaluate” how they’re going to operate on NYE, given that capacity has now been reduced 1 guest per four square metres.
For a lot of bars and restaurants, this means they’ll have to halve the number of bookings they can take.
That’s going to be particularly important because the CBD was already supposed to be off-limits to people on NYE, except for people with a booking at a bar, restaurant or some kind of office party.
“So long as you have a dedicated ticket and somewhere to go, you will be allowed into the CBD,” Berejiklian said back in November.
Let’s hope not too many people end up losing their tickets. That said, at least we can all still catch the fireworks on TV.
