NSW scraps masks as office workers return

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is upbeat that with the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions, the state will economically rev up its engine as workers return to offices.

Compulsory wearing of masks in shops was dropped across the state on Friday and the same mandate will be lifted in schools from Monday.

Staff and students will also no longer be required to undertake twice-weekly rapid antigen tests.

“Ultimately now, with face masks being removed for the office, I think we’ll see a lot more people return to the city tomorrow and not just the city CBD but in Wollongong and Parramatta as well, as people return to work,” Mr Perrottet told reporters on Sunday.

“After each outbreak we’ve seen a strong return to activity in the city and that’s incredibly important because when Sydney goes well, the state and the country goes well off the back of it.

In the wake of widespread disruption due to an industrial dispute, Mr Perrottet said Sydney’s metro trains would also return to full-time table operations across the city from Monday.

NSW recorded 6014 new cases and 27 more deaths on Sunday, a considerable dip where numbers reached nearly 30,000 at the height of the Omicron wave.

More than 95 per cent of people aged 16 and over in NSW have received a first vaccine dose and 94.3 per cent are double-vaccinated. Almost 54 per cent have also had a booster shot.

(AAP)

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