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After the most blocked city in the world got rid of the latest round of restrictions aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19, people in Melbourne swarmed into the city’s bars, restaurants and hair salons in the early hours of Friday morning.
Since March 2020, Australia’s second largest city has so far experienced 262 days or nearly 9 months of restrictions in 6 separate lockdowns, which is the longest cumulative lockdown of any city in the world.
The Argentine capital Buenos Aires was closed for 234 consecutive days last year.
In Melbourne, people were seen cheering and applauding on balconies, while drivers kept honking their horns at 11:59pm on Thursday, when the lockdown restrictions that began in early August were coming to an end.
Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews promised on Friday that as the state reaches its vaccination goals, it will “no longer be locked down”.
“We don’t have a statewide lockdown, we don’t have a citywide lockdown because people have done what we asked them to do, and now we are fulfilling what we said,” he was quoted as saying on Friday.
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria.
Many places in Melbourne, including food stores and even hairdressers, are open at midnight.
Josh Mihan, the owner of The Bearded Man barbershop in Melbourne, told Reuters that his orders for next month are almost full and encourage customers to make appointments for Christmas.
He said: “We all like to cut our hair, and being on the floor with people around is a very cute feeling.”
“I have urged our customer base to make sure you have booked the Christmas offer.”
A similar exhilaration occurred in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, and about two weeks ago, the authorities began to relax restrictions there.
October 22, 2021.
Welcome back, my glorious hometown. ❤️ #Melbourne #lockdownends pic.twitter.com/jl3tKL6jDM-Virginia Trioli (@LaTrioli) October 21, 2021
70% are fully vaccinated
Now that slightly more than 70% of adults in Australia are fully vaccinated, many residents plan to fly overseas again when international border restrictions are relaxed next month.
Starting November 1, vaccinated international travelers arriving in Sydney and Melbourne will no longer need to be quarantined. With the increase in vaccination rates, other cities have proposed similar plans.
Qantas said on Friday that it will speed up plans to restart flights to many destinations and deploy larger aircraft to meet “substantial demand.”
Qantas said it will open a new route from Sydney to Delhi in early December, and plans to open flights to Singapore, Fiji, Johannesburg, Bangkok and Phuket in advance.
“This is a beautiful day-Australia is ready to take off,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said shortly after Qantas announced the news.
Morrison said that if an agreement is reached as expected, the isolation-free travel bubble between Australia and Singapore may begin next month. Thailand announced on Thursday that it will reopen to tourists from many countries including Australia.
New Zealand also looks at reopening
Despite the delta outbreak in the southeast since late June, the number of COVID-19 infections in Australia is still much lower than in many other developed countries, with approximately 152,000 cases and 1,590 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
With the once stalled vaccine launches gaining momentum, the authorities no longer plan to rely on extended lockdowns to suppress the virus.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday that a 90% vaccination rate in the country would make this South Pacific country one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. [File: Mark Mitchell/AFP]At the same time, Australia’s neighbour New Zealand announced that only after 90% of its eligible population is fully vaccinated will it end its strict coronavirus lockdown measures and restore more freedom.
New Zealand used to be a typical representative of the eradication of COVID-19, but it has been unable to overcome the outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 centered in Auckland, forcing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to abandon the eradication of the virus. Strategy, and coexist with the virus instead. Virus.
Ardern said on Friday that a 90% vaccination rate for each of the country’s health committees would make the South Pacific country one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.
As of Friday, approximately 68% of eligible New Zealanders have been fully vaccinated and 86% received a dose of the vaccine.
Ardern said at a press conference in the capital Wellington: “In the end, we balanced our desire to reopen quickly while continuing to ensure people’s safety.”
“Persons who are fully vaccinated will be able to reconnect with family and friends, go to bars and restaurants, and do what they like with more certainty and confidence,” Ardern said.
Wayne Hay from Al Jazeera in New Zealand said that the last few percentage points of the target number of vaccinations “may be difficult to achieve.”
He also stated that the government has been under “pressure” from the business community and the public to relax the national blockade.
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