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Sydney, January 7 (IANS): As the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is battling the latest Covid-19 outbreak, authorities on Friday reintroduced restrictions.
NSW, the current epicentre of the pandemic, reported 38,625 new cases and 11 deaths and there were 1,738 people in hospitals, 134 in intensive care, reports Xinhua news agency.
In response to surging Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations, some restrictions will be re-imposed in the state from Saturday.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet labelled the changes as "minor" and "proportionate" which would "alleviate pressure on the hospital system and staff".
Under the new rules, singing and dancing in pubs and nightclubs is banned and major events scheduled for coming weeks have to go through assessment of health authorities.
Non-urgent surgeries will be suspended until mid-February to ease pressure on the health system.
"The transmission is happening in a variety of settings, obviously in those household and social gatherings that people are having, and also in places like pubs, clubs, nightclubs.
"So with this time, we're really just trying to slow the spread...to reduce the impact we're seeing on our hospital and those other critical services in the community," NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.
The premier also announced that the state will make Covid-19 booster shots mandatory for some workers who were previously required to get vaccinations.
"Whether it's our teachers, nurses, our frontline health and disability workers, where NSW Health has previously required mandatory vaccination... We will move to boosters being included as part of that fully vaccinated determination."
