After 31 days with NO COVID-19 transmission in NSW, church members are still not allowed to sing?

Brad Hazzard, please remove this restriction so that we may sing in church.

Given the lack of COVID transmissions in NSW, this restriction seems inconsistent with other industries, and disproportionate to the risk posed.

The loss of singing can have a very bad effect on people’s mental and spiritual health. As believers, we desperately want to encourage each other in song with the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Our community needs hope so badly at the moment.

In recent months, as we became more educated, there has been no evidence of churches as places of community transmission. As a strong generalisation, churches are full of people who are compliant with authority and caring for neighbours. We have a good track record of COVID safety.

Further, Christians have been singing in church without masks for months in Canberra. Even in Melbourne, when churches began meeting again, members were permitted to sing with masks.

As people flock back into bars, pubs, cafes, theatres restaurants and shops... As they cheer together in sporting venues yell across crowded tables... it feels unfair that religious people - adhering to all other COVID precautions - can't sing. Even if we have to put a mask on to do so, PLEASE LET US SING IN CHURCH AGAIN.