Tamworth Regional Council urges locals to stick to 'definitive' restrictions as Sydney COVID-19 outbreak grows

A statement from Tamworth Regional Council set out the plan:

The Sports Dome School Holiday Program - is set to go ahead as planned with safety measures in place. Parents are required to meet staff outside of the building to sign their child into the program for the day. The children will be escorted to the courts that will be for their exclusive use only, they will also not be exposed to the general public while taking part in the program. Staff have been provided with additional PPE including masks, gloves and sanitiser and all equipment will be sanitised at the end of each day.

Year Round Care - children under 12 years old are exempt for wearing a mask under the current public health orders, however, children are encouraged to wear a mask where they can. Parents are asked to ensure they wear a mask at drop off and when collecting their child from vacation care and to send their child in with a mask if possible.

The Youthie School Holiday Program - will proceed as planned with the additional provision of mask wearing, social distancing and square metre requirements. Young people will be required to supply their own mask. Unfortunately the NAIDOC Week showcase will need to be postponed to comply with NSW government COVID-19 rules.

Tamworth City Library - events planned for Tamworth City Library have been moved to the Youthie and will remain at the same times and dates.

Barraba Library - event stays the same on Monday, July 5.

South Tamworth Library - events have been moved to the Youthie and remain on the same dates but have both changed times from 2pm-3pm to 3:30pm-4:30pm.

Tamworth Regional Gallery - events will take place as planned and will require attendees to abide by the current public health orders.

Council is continuing to review planned events and activities at its venues and facilities across the region to ensure all measures set down in the current public health orders are in place.

TAMWORTH has been "fortunate" to avoid a lockdown situation but authorities have warned the community to be vigilant after sweeping COVID-19 restrictions were announced.

Tamworth Regional Council's director of growth and prosperity Jacqueline O'Neill told the Leader the community would notice some changes over the next two weeks as the state responds to a growing cluster.

"Our libraries are open and our facilities are open and our services are continued," she said.

"Just remain very vigilant and ensure you are following all health orders.

"We're very fortunate that we have a very diverse economy that can actually assist us through these types of issues."

Organisers of school holiday activities scheduled for the next two weeks at venues like the library and gallery are making plans to operate in a COVID-safe way.

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Checking in, masks and limited numbers will be enforced at council facilities.

"There may be some updates in regards to those events and we are talking to event organisers in regards to those to ensure we remain safe," Ms O'Neill said.

"Our suggestion is if you are going to an event, do allow yourself plenty of time."

She also said contacting the event organiser directly was the best course of action to get answers.

"If you have any symptoms however, in regards to COVID, the health orders are very clear that you need to actually go and get tested," she said.

Despite some council staff shifting to working from home for a short period, residents were assured all council operations and day-to-day jobs would continue as normal and without disruption.

Tamworth Regional Council is expecting to take a small hit to its cash flow with some events cancelled and venues at reduced capacity, but mayor Col Murray said getting through the COVID-19 outbreak safely is the top priority.

He said everyone needed to be "observant" of all the rules set down by NSW Health.

"We're not in a panic situation certainly but we do need to be very aware of the risks and the dangers ... and we need to really stay tuned to the latest advice," Cr Murray said.

He told media at a press conference on Monday that he was satisfied with the response from the NSW government.

"I think we are very fortunate that we are not in a lockdown situation here in Tamworth, but there are some quite definitive rules that have been set down by NSW Health," he said.

Cr Murray acknowledged there are implications for local businesses in the public health order - like compulsory mask wearing and capacity caps.

But, he said people only needed to look at how the outbreak in Bondi had "exploded" to realise how important it is to abide by restrictions.

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