Vaccinated residents of Sydney will finally emerge from a lockdown of more than three months in mid-October, authorities said, unveiling a "
plan for freedom
" as the number of cases declines in the city.
Read also In Sydney, the controversial use of the army to enforce confinement
Stay-at-home obligations must be lifted in Sydney and New South Wales when full immunization rates exceed 70%, a target Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian expects to achieve on October 11. . For the first time in more than three months, pubs, restaurants and shops will then be able to reopen to vaccinated customers and friends and families living in Australia's largest city will be able to come together again.
"
There is more than this week and next week to hold,
" encouraged Gladys Berejiklian.
"
We're almost there, almost there, let's not give up at the last minute
."
The "
plan for freedom
" will allow travel through New South Wales when 80% of those over 16 are vaccinated, a threshold that could be reached by the end of October, said Deputy Prime Minister John Barilaro.
The limitation on the number of guests at funerals and weddings will be lifted at the same time and sporting events can resume.
Unvaccinated adults will have to wait at least until December 1 to enjoy these same freedoms, when 90% of the population of age to be vaccinated should be.
70% vaccination
The number of daily cases fell to 800 in New South Wales on Monday, from a peak of around 1,500 in September, and 85% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Gladys Berejiklian expects a rebound in the number of cases with the end of confinement but remains confident in the ability to manage these patients.
"
We know that once we reopen with 70% of people having received two doses, the number of cases will skyrocket,
" she warned. "
But what will protect us is the fact that many people will have received at least the first dose of the vaccine and these people will have an extra layer of protection so that they do not end up in the hospital, or worse
." Australia has suffered a winter wave of Covid-19 due to the highly contagious Delta variant, which has forced the country's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, to impose lockdown for several months. But the vaccination campaign, slow to start, has accelerated, allowing leaders to establish a reopening plan also including a resumption of international flights by the end of the year.
The capital Canberra also announced Monday the end of its confinement for October 15, with the reopening of bars, beauty salons and gyms.
Since mid-August, the authorities have asked the 400,000 inhabitants of the city to stay at home to stem a small but continuous epidemic.
