The NSW premier says her government will consider permitting venues to ban entry to those who decline to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
NSW reported six new local cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, five of which were household contacts of a previously-confirmed case in western Sydney.
NSW Health believes that case was linked to the Berala cluster.
The sixth case is a Concord Repatriation General Hospital staff member who worked in the cardiology and radiology wards and may have been infectious on January 12, 13, and 14 but had minimal patient contact.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has flagged the possibility of easing restrictions on Greater Sydney this week, dependent upon high testing rates.
She also broached on Monday the possibility of barring those who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine from government-run buildings, as well as permitting private venues to take similar measures.
As the planned February rollout of the vaccine nears, the NSW government is considering a data-sharing partnership with the federal government that would help residents prove they have been immunised.
Ms Berejiklian last week said the Service NSW smartphone app could show a tick when a person is vaccinated, enabling venue entry.
“The more people that are vaccinated, the greater likelihood we can have a return to normality as we know it,” Ms Berejiklian told 2GB Radio.
“Already airlines have indicated that if you’re not vaccinated you can’t travel overseas and I think that’ll be incentive to a lot of people.
“But we’ll also consider whether we allow venues … make up their own rules if they have a business or run a workplace about what they feel is COVID-safe.”
Victoria, meanwhile, will from 6pm on Monday fully open its border to 16 local government areas in southern NSW, and also ease restrictions for visitors from all but 10 local government areas in Sydney.
Those visitors will be required to seek COVID-19 testing upon arrival in Victoria and self-isolate until they receive a negative result, but will not be barred entry.
Residents of local government areas including Parramatta, Liverpool, Fairfield and Strathfield remain locked out of Victoria.
Ms Berejiklian earlier on Monday said Victorian counterpart Daniel Andrews had not made contact about the state’s hard border arrangements.
Victoria has gone 12 straight days without a new local coronavirus infection and residents stuck in Brisbane are now free to travel back to the state.
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