Last time I looked there were 128 local government & 1 unincorporated area within New South Wales.
On Sunday 11 September 2021 regional residents woke to the realisation that all but 38 of the 87 regional local government areas (or 44% of all regional councils) came out of the state-wide COVID-19 lockdown.
However since then the Delta Variant Outbreak has continued playing a game of musical chairs with regional councils, as infected people from towns in metropolitan areas travelled into the regions seeding as they went.
So now, 20 days since the blanket regional lockdown ceased, due to the current presence of COVID-19 infections 22% of all regional local government areas are fully covered by stay-at-home orders and one regional council has two of its towns covered by these particular orders. In addition to this, COVID-19 fragments are regularly turning up in the state's 100km wide coastal strip, indicating that the virus still remains quite mobile.
Come 11 October in ten days time, when that merry little band of Glad, Brad, John & Scotty push to begin opening up NSW, there is no way every regional local government area will have 70% of their resident population fully vaccinated. As of 26 September 2021 absolutely none had reached that 70% fully vaccinated 'eligible' population target nor is there any guarantee that the virus transmission rate will be low enough in metropolitan areas to avoid a surge in active case numbers.
It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that by the end of October the Delta Variant of SARS-CoV-2 may be lighting up more regional areas.
NSW Health, media release 2021:
Changes to stay-at-home orders for regional NSW local government areas
Stay-at-home orders will be extended until 11 October for a number of local government areas (LGAs) in regional NSW due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health risk.
Stay-at-home orders will be extended for the following LGAs until 11 October: Bathurst Regional, Bourke, City of Broken Hill, Central Coast, City of Cessnock, Dubbo Regional, Eurobodalla, Goulburn Mulwaree, Kiama, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Lithgow, City of Maitland, City of Newcastle, Port Stephens, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional, City of Shellharbour, City of Shoalhaven, and Wingecarribee.
Due to recent transmission of COVID-19, stay-at-home orders will be introduced for the Snowy Monaro LGA from 3pm today (Thursday) for seven days. These stay-at-home orders also apply to anyone who has the Snowy Monaro LGA since 22 September.
Stay-at-home orders will be lifted, as scheduled, from tomorrow, Friday 1 October, for Mid-Western Regional, Hilltops and Walgett LGAs.
For the Central Darling Shire Council, stay-at-home orders will be lifted from tomorrow, with the exceptions of Wilcannia and Menindee. Stay-at-home orders will be extended in Menindee for a further seven days and in Wilcannia until 11 October.
NSW Health will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation with COVID-19 and will not hesitate to update its advice to protect the health and wellbeing of the people of NSW.
We urge people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms. To find your nearest clinic visit COVID-19 clinics or contact your GP.
High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community.
Use the COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder to find your nearest vaccination clinic, or visit: Get your COVID-19 vaccination.
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