This just in from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's daily 11am presser: only eight new cases were recorded overnight and restrictions in the Greater Sydney area over the Christmas period have been ever-so-slightly eased.

On December 25, 25 and 26, residents in the area will, in addition to their allowed up to 10 visitors, also be allowed kids under 12. In other words, children won't be counted in the 10-person limit. On December 27, the rules will go back to the way they were.

"Can I stress, you cannot have different groups of 10 people during the day," Gladys said. "It's one group of 10 and you have to stick to that group of 10, plus kids under 12."

She added: "But come 27 December for Greater Sydney, we go back to just 10 per household full stop. Every other restriction remains in place for that addition over the Christmas period."

Also in the presser, Gladys announced that the Northern Beaches would be treated as two different areas – north and south. Those in the southern part, "people who might live in Manly or Dee Why", would be allowed 10 visitors from December 24-26, but still won't be allowed to leave their area.

As for Northern Beaches residents (north of the Narrabeen Bridge and east of the Bahar Temple at Mona Vale roads), "you are still in lockdown", Gladys said. In saying that, during the period December 24-26, she said up to five people were allowed in a home as long as visitors were from that region.

Restrictions over New Year's Eve are still TBC. An official presser reads: "Decisions on New Year's Eve and upcoming sporting events will be made after this Christmas period."

If your head is a little scrambled, make sure you pop over to WHO.int to get all of your official COVID-19 updates.

Written by Sangeeta Kocharekar, an American-born, Sydney-based writer at MTV. Photos from her pre-COVID-19 days as a travel writer are here.