COVID restrictions are set to ease even further following NSW reaching the 80 per cent double vaccination target over the weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW government removed some restrictions last Monday for double-dosed residents after the 70 per cent target was reached - and the 80 per cent mark has been hit earlier than expected.
"Summer in NSW is looking good," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet tweeted.
The single-dose rate has crept up to 91.9 per cent.
A new set of freedoms for the fully vaccinated include the return of community sport, a new home visitor limit of 20 people, the scrapping of mandatory masks in offices and bigger caps on weddings and funerals.
Pub patrons will also be allowed to drink standing up and dance.
The weekend marked the first since some restrictions had been lifted for double vaccinated people, which prompted surf life saving clubs to prepare for a busy time on the beaches.
Illawarra Surf Life Saving duty officer Anthony Turner said they had put on extra lifesavers on duty on Sunday but the crowds of beachgoers never eventuated.
"It's not hot, it's only about 21-22 degrees maximum so it's not really beach weather," Mr Turner said.
"I think a lot of people are just enjoying other people's company. There are people out there on cycle tracks, along the beach forefronts and reserves but not the amount of people we were anticipating."
Across the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District over the weekend, there were 47 new cases of COVID.
Of those nine were recorded in the 2527 Albion Park-Tullimbar postcode.
On Sunday the NSW government unveiled a $130 million package to provide help for anyone whose mental health had been affected by the pandemic.
The funding will go towards public access to private psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health beds as well as training 275,000 people in the community to become "mental health first aiders".
Mr Perrottet said the funding would provide more appointments for psychology and psychiatry services, address the sharp rise in eating disorders and self-harm presentations and launch the biggest suicide prevention training program ever undertaken.
"This funding means that parents, children and the most vulnerable in our community can get the help they need now," Mr Perrottet said.
"As we navigate the economic recovery from this pandemic we must also support people's mental wellbeing along the way."
Labor's Mental Health spokesman Ryan Park welcomed the funding but hoped there was more to come.
"This is a first step, it can't be the only step given the trauma the community has been under, particularly those in South-West and Western Sydney," Mr Park said.
"Everyone across the community has suffered but people in South-West and Western Sydney have done it really, really tough and we're calling on the government to provide additional support into those communities."
He also wanted to see the government commit to having one school counsellor for every 500 students in the state's public schools.
"Teachers, parents and community leaders have all told us our young people have found it really, really difficult during this very, very challenging period," he said.
"As they head back to school we need that support so they can get through this difficult time and get back on their feet."
The Illawarra Mercury news app is now officially live on both iOS and Android devices. It is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play.