On Friday, there is another step towards the life we used to know.
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At the end of Thursday night, the ACT government will relax the rules as vaccinations have reached what must be close to, if not at, the ceiling.
Boosters have started to be administered, and more than 95 per cent of eligible Canberrans have had the full two doses of one vaccine or another.
So what can we do under the eased rules?
Masks
Not having to always wear masks indoors is one of the big changes.
We can't quite throw our masks away, though. They should still be worn indoors in a few limited settings, where people crowd together (like the entrance to a restaurant (what the ACT government calls "front of house hospitality"), on a bus, taxi or tram or in school.
Masks must also be worn where there is a particular imperative not to spread COVID (like a hospital or aged care home).
And in school: "In all indoor spaces at a school, early childhood education and care settings (including out-of-school hours care)."
Children in years 7 to 12 are obliged to mask up. "Children in years 3 to 6 are encouraged to wear a mask when indoors at school, if they are comfortable doing so (this is at the discretion of the student and their parent, carers or guardians)."
Masks are also still required in Canberra airport terminal and on flights.
But masks are no longer a requirement to be worn indoors at all times.
Authorities are still urging people to use common sense, though, and wear a mask if they feel they are in a situation that warrants it. That includes things like having COVID symptoms; being indoors in a place where you can't socially distance from people you don't know, such as shops or a theatre; when getting personal services, such as a hair cut.
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Indoor venues
The rules on these are relaxed but not removed entirely.
If there are 25 or fewer people in a hairdresser, food court, restaurant or pub, place of worship or the like, there are no restrictions on numbers.
But if the numbers reach 25, there is a space rule: one person per two square metres (down from one person per four square metres).
Eating and drinking while standing is allowed. So is dancing.
There has to be allocated, ticketed seating in cinemas. For small cinemas, with a capacity up to 25, people can sit next to each other. Anything bigger and the space rule applies.
Nightclubs will be able to reopen so dancing will be allowed. Clubbers will be able to eat and drink standing up rather than having to get a table.
The ACT government lists the places where the rule applies: "hospitality and licenced venues, food courts, gaming and gambling venues, cafes and restaurants, places of worship, weddings and funerals, gyms and fitness, community centres, youth centres, real estate and auctions, dance classes, choirs, bands and orchestras, nightclubs, galleries, museums, cultural institutions, historic sites, outdoor attractions, conferences and conventions".
All class sizes are limited by the density restrictions.
The one person per two square metres rule (up from one per four square metres) also applies to shops.
Social gatherings
There will be no limit on the number of visitors to homes (up from 10 people aged 12 or older), and there will be no limit on informal outdoor gatherings (up from 30, including children).
Sport and fitness
Outdoor venues like Canberra Stadium and Manuka Oval are allowed to be full to capacity for the fixed seating. For areas without fixed seating the one person per two square metres rule applies.
Events with more than a thousand spectators have to be pre-ticketed. Events with between 1000 and 2000 spectators and participants (not including staff) have to present a COVID-safe plan. Events with over 2000 spectators have to be approved first - an exemption has to be granted.
For areas with unfixed seating (say in a concert in a park where the seating is imported), the new one person per two square metres rule applies.
People can stand and eat and drink rather than have to sit down.
Travel
There are no changes to interstate travel. Some high-risk areas have been identified, and exemptions are required. Full vaccinated people can get exemptions automatically, although unvaccinated travellers will need permission and conditions may be required.
International travellers who are fully vaccinated no longer need to quarantine when they get to the ACT, although there are testing requirements, restrictions on entry to some high risk settings and some quarantine requirements for children. Travellers who are not fully vaccinated must quarantine for 14 days in the Australian city they land in.
Return to the office
The only change here is the removal of the phrase "in accordance with the Public Health Direction".
"Continued return to work where it suits employees and employers."
Hospital and aged care visits
Facilities need to set their own rules, but the limit of two visitors to residential aged care facilities and only by vaccinated people will be removed.
The upshot
A host of activities like worship, dancing, cinema-going, getting hair done move to not quite as normal, but not far from it.
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