NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has confirmed that for the purposes of travel only, the Central Coast has been reclassified as Greater Metro Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Central Coast residents will now have to wait to travel into regional NSW until 80% of the state\u2019s eligible population is vaccinated after a change to the region\u2019s classification for travel according to Mr Barilaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the purpose of regional travel, we have now classified Central Coast, Shellharbour, [Wollongong], Blue Mountains as Greater Metro,\u201d Mr Barilaro said yesterday (September 27).<\/p>
\u201cNow I know that sounds confusing, but for the purpose of minimising regional travel initially we don’t want people in the Central Coast or Wollongong and Shellharbour, where there are significant case numbers, travelling into the regions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch confirmed the news, saying the case numbers on the Central Coast are consistently too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can confirm that when the lockdown ends on 11 October, Central Coast residents will not be able to freely travel to other parts of Regional NSW,\u201d Mr Crouch said in a statement,
\u201cThis is because the Central Coast\u2019s daily COVID-19 case numbers are consistently too high. Our region is recording approximately 30 new COVID-19 cases per day. This is even higher than most local government areas across Sydney.\u201d
\u201cClearly, we are not out of the woods. NSW Health has identified the growing COVID-19 case numbers on the Central Coast and in the Illawarra as two of the most concerning areas in the State,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nMr Crouch said he will advocate for the decision to be reconsidered if vaccination rates continue to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf our case numbers decline and if vaccination rates continue to rise between now and 11 October, I will absolutely advocate for this Health decision to be reconsidered. There are currently 38,000 unvaccinated people on the Central Coast and I am urging these people to book an appointment as quickly as possible,\u201d Mr Crouch confirmed in a statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
At the time of writing, 60.4% of the eligible NSW population is fully vaccinated while 85.7% have received their first dose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 58.0% of the eligible population of the Central Coast Local Government Area (LGA) is fully vaccinated at the time of writing, while 86.3% have received their first dose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NSW Government unveiled the roadmap for what life for residents<\/a> across the state will look like moving forward yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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