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Newlyweds in front of the Sydney Opera House
Photo: STEVEN SAPHORE / AFP
It was a long, uncomfortable winter for the five million or so residents of the greater Sydney area. Now, however, the lockdown in the capital of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) ended on Monday after 106 days. A total of 63,000 corona infections and over 430 deaths were counted in NSW during this time. The lockdown ended after over 70 percent of the population received their second vaccination the previous week. Nationwide, the vaccination rate in Australia is currently just under 62 percent.
With the end of the strict lockdown in Sydney, numerous restrictions will also be lifted.
Among other things, fully vaccinated people are now allowed to meet in groups of up to 30 people.
Hairdressers are allowed to receive customers again, but only in compliance with the distance rules, which also applies to museums, fitness studios and cinemas.
"I think everyone in the state is pretty excited after this long time," New South Wales' new prime minister Dominic Perrottet told Seven News.
Monday was quickly dubbed "Freedom Day" in the media.
Because of the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, the residents of the greater Sydney area had been locked down since June.
In other parts of New South Wales, too, lockdown measures that lasted for weeks have come and go.
So while the toughest restrictions are no longer in Sydney and the number of cases is falling, there is less good news from Melbourne.
The state of Victoria, which is the country's second largest city, reported 1,612 new infections and eight more deaths within 24 hours.
This means a slight decrease compared to the previous day, but people are still a long way away from an opening based on the example of Sydney.
The situation in Melbourne and Victoria remains critical
Only last week, Melbourne had set an unrepentant record.
The city on the east coast came to a total of 246 days in lockdown mode last Monday, as the Australian broadcaster ABC reported.
Melbourne thus overtook the previous world record holder, Buenos Aires.
Australia, with its around 25 million inhabitants, had long pursued a zero Covid strategy and relied above all on spontaneous lockdowns and the consistent closure of external borders.
The vaccination campaign in the country was extremely slow.
With the spread of the delta variant, however, several regional governments had to admit that this strategy no longer works.
The authorities are now focusing on achieving the highest possible vaccination rate.
