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The Australian city of Melbourne has spent more time under the COVID-19 lockdown than any other city in the world and will cancel its stay-at-home order this week.
The Governor of Victoria, with Melbourne as the capital, announced on Sunday that restrictions would be relaxed.
Officials predict that the state’s dual vaccination rate will reach 70% this week.
“Today is a beautiful day,” Andrews said. “Today is a day when Victorians can be proud of what they have achieved.”
He said: “As of 11:59 on Thursday night, there will be no lockdowns, restrictions on leaving home and curfews.”
When the restrictions are lifted, the city with a population of 5 million will be locked down six times since March 2020, for a total of 262 days.
Australia and other media said it was the longest in the world, Exceed 234-day blockade in Buenos Aires.
Australia used to be a proponent of the COVID-zero strategy to deal with the pandemic. It has been coexisting with the virus through extensive vaccination, as it turns out that the delta variant is too transmittable to be suppressed.
Once 80% of the population is fully vaccinated, the new strategy will be extremely unlikely to be a lockdown.
As of the weekend, approximately 68% of eligible Australians had been fully vaccinated.
In Victoria, more than 65% of people over the age of 16 have received a second dose of the vaccine, and 89% have received at least one dose.
Andrews said that with the cancellation of the stay-at-home order, people will be allowed to receive 10 visitors at home every day.
Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 15 people.
Most outdoor venues can accommodate up to 50 people, subject to density constraints, while indoor venues, including cafes and restaurants, will be able to accommodate 20 people, subject to density constraints.
The governor said that there will be no travel restrictions in the Melbourne city, but residents of the city will not be able to travel out of the city without permission.
Once 80% of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated (estimated by November 5 at the latest), there will be more easing measures, including the reopening of many retailers.
“We no longer completely lock down people,” Andrews said.
“On the contrary, we shut out those who have not been vaccinated to protect ourselves and everyone else.”
Australian health officials also said on Sunday that quarantine-free travel from the South Island of New Zealand, where there is no outbreak, will resume on Wednesday.
The government is also discussing with Singapore to reopen travel between the two countries in order to provide services to fully vaccinated people.
Despite the increase in cases in recent months, the number of coronaviruses in Australia is still low compared with many other developed countries, with just over 143,000 cases and 1,530 deaths.
Victoria recorded 1,838 new coronavirus cases and 7 deaths on Sunday. Neighboring New South Wales lifted its 100-day lockdown last week, reporting 301 cases and 10 deaths.
Eighty percent of people in the state have been fully vaccinated.
Neighboring New Zealand is also learning to coexist with COVID-19 by accelerating vaccination. On Sunday, 51 new cases were reported, 47 of which occurred in the largest city, Auckland, which has been locked down since mid-August.
On Saturday, as part of a government-led mass vaccination campaign, New Zealand vaccinated more than 2.5% of the population.
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