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Victorians and local businesses are celebrating the end of the two-week severe lockdown, but many have warned that life will not “recover quickly” as usual.
Two weeks after the stay-at-home order, Melbourne’s most stringent restrictions were lifted at 11.59pm last night, after only one new case of the virus was recorded on Tuesday.
“This is a good day. Everyone should be absolutely proud of what we have achieved together,” said Victorian Acting Governor James Melino.
He said that collective efforts have prevented the outbreak in the city, and more than 80 people have tested positive for Kappa or Delta strains originating in India.
“But we know this is not over yet, and the virus will still be with us until we are vaccinated widely in Victoria and across the country,” Mr. Melino said.
Melbourne residents still cannot be more than 25 kilometers away from their homes and cannot allow tourists to come, but they can gather up to 10 people outside.
Schools, cafes and beauty salons can be reopened, but gyms and nightclubs must be closed for at least another week.
People on social media have mixed reactions, some feel proud, some feel frustrated, and many commented that they will not notice much change after the blockade is lifted
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Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said that because the situation is still “quite volatile”, it is impossible to “recover quickly” to no limits.
He said: “We must increase our operations safely and gradually, but we know that we will continue to control this minimum restriction.”
Paul Guerra, chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that although the blockade is welcome, businesses will still face pressure.
“Today’s news is good news, but it’s not the rebound we hoped for; we went in very quickly, but we are crawling out. Although most businesses across the state can now open, we need to see further relaxation of restrictions so that all businesses can Resume viable trade as soon as possible to maintain Victoria’s employment, businesses, livelihoods, culture and prosperity,” he said. “The mental health losses caused by these restrictions are huge, as are the damage they cause to our reputation and confidence.”
“It is great to see that the Victorian region has taken another step from the lockdown. The Victorian Chamber of Commerce is advocating for the state to quickly unite again. Not every company in the state will be able to start operations tomorrow, and some companies will continue to lose money every day until further Relax restrictions,” Mr. Guerra said. “We know that our tourism industry will miss this weekend, but we hope to see tourists return to these areas from next weekend and beyond.
The changes in Metropolitan Victoria mean that the office can accommodate 25% of employees or 10 people, whichever is greater.
Dining is possible in hotels, and the density is limited from one person per four square meters to a maximum of 100 people (internal 50 people). Retail and indoor entertainment venues can open density restrictions, hairdressing, beauty and personal services can be opened, where you can wear masks, outdoor sports And group fitness classes can be conducted under the upper limit of 10 people.
Indoor sports, gyms, swimming pools, and entertainment venues are still closed, and beauty services without masks are not allowed, and indoor private gatherings are not allowed, but the government said it is providing further support to these departments.
In the Victoria area, restrictions on reception and entertainment density will increase, masks can be taken off indoors (including beauty services), and indoor sports, gyms, swimming pools and entertainment venues can be opened. However, Victoria’s tourism industry will not see any rebound due to continued travel restrictions for metropolitan residents.
When Victoria faced similar lockdown restrictions in October last year, the state government required zero active cases to reopen the state.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world without endemic transmission, with 30,000 Covid-19 cases and less than 1,000 deaths recorded in a population of 25 million.
The border is still closed to most travellers-with the exception of New Zealand travellers-when a case is detected, the authorities will quickly impose restrictions.
The virus is believed to have leaked from temporary hotel quarantine facilities in Australia up to 18 times in six months, prompting a rigorous review of the system in recent weeks.
The outbreaks in Taiwan and Japan have also highlighted that in the absence of widespread vaccination, initial success in containing the virus may quickly disappear.
As of Monday, Australia has had about 5.2 million injections, but only a small number of people have received a comprehensive vaccine.
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