As the clock ticks over to midnight on Friday, density limits will be removed and singing and dancing will be able to return at pubs and clubs across the Illawarra.
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For hotelier Ryan Aitchison, who runs The Illawarra, the NSW Government's early lifting of restrictions couldn't have come at a better time.
"We've got dancing and singing coming back in from midnight and our staff are buzzing, everyone is so excited," he said.
Read more: NSW records 9995 COVID-19 cases, 14 deaths
"From our experiences over the last two years, who know it could all end as quickly as its come in, and we don't want to add to any strain on the health system so if it comes to that we would do what we needed to do.
"But overall we're very keen to get back to business. It's O-Week next week and students will be able to go out and enjoy themselves and town will be buzzing."
Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Thursday that a raft of COVID-19 restrictions would be been lifted earlier than expected.
From Friday, in addition to the changed rules around density, dancing and singing, QR codes will be required for music festivals and nightclubs only.
Read more: NSW COVID restrictions to ease from Friday
Then on February 25, face masks will be recommended where physical distancing is not possible and for customer service staff but no longer mandatory indoors. They will remain mandatory on public transport and in planes and airports, in hospital and aged care facilities, and at indoor music festivals with more than 1000 people.
Business Illawarra Executive Director Adam Zarth said the changes were "a very sensible and sought after decision".
"The broad base of our members really supports this, because we need to find COVID normal and things like density limits hurt hospitality," he said.
"The requirement to wear a mask has been a barrier to coming back to the office, and CBDs like Wollongong, and Nowra and Shellharbour, need office workers to return."
He said businesses had been put into a desperate situation by the pandemic and would welcome the chance to get more people into their shops, cafes and restaurants.
He said some may still choose to ask customers to wear masks when those restrictions change next week.
"There's a proportion of people generally who remain quite concerned about the risk of getting COVID, and they are commonly people who live with people who are immunocompromised - so that's completely understandable," he said.
"Businesses will make decisions at a business by business level - so I would say it's always handy to have a mask with us when we're shopping, and we should respect that as consumers."
In another clear sign that officials believe the worst is over for the Omicron outbreak, the tent installed last last year outside Wollongong Hospital's Emergency Department to cope with a potential surge of COVID cases will be dismantled on Friday.
The tent was established last September in anticipation of increased local cases of COVID-19, to enable the safe and efficient transition of patients from the community into the ED.
Similarly the Shoalhaven Sub-Acute Mental Health Unit, which was repurposed for the as a special health accommodation facility as part of the COVID-19 response, will recommence accepting mental health patients.
However, the district has not made a decision about returning Bulli Hospital Urgent Care Centre - which was also temporarily closed last December - to its normal operations.
The local health district said 607 people in the Illawarra Shoalhaven tested positive to COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour period, with 279 positive PCR tests and 328 positive rapid antigen tests reported.
Two men, one unvaccinated man in his 70s from Wollongong and the other vaccinated in his 90s from Shellharbour, died in the reporting period.
There were 322 cases from Wollongong Local Government Area, 124 cases from Shellharbour LGA 136 cases from Shoalhaven LGA and 25 cases from Kiama LGA.
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