The news was greeted with tears, cheers and, at the afternoon school pickup, a spontaneous concert of parents honking their horns in celebration.
As Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced at 3:30pm yesterday that Melbourne’s months-long lockdown would largely come to an end, residents rejoiced.
From midnight today, cafes, restaurants, bars and beauty services can reopen, subject to patron limits, and people can leave their home for any reason.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was a moment of high anticipation.
As Andrews spoke, activist and author Sally Rugg wrote on Twitter: “Is Dan ok? He seems like he’s about to cry?”
Minutes later, after the announcement, she added: “Oh god now I’m crying.”
For millions the floodgates of emotion opened.
Some cracked a beer during the news conference, toasting the latest episode of what had become the state’s longest-running, and dourest, daytime TV show.
The author Andrea Rowe said that she was with her daughter at the school gates listening to the radio as the news came through.
“She’s crying,” Rowe wrote. “I’m tooting. Folks are flashing lights and hollering. The Rosebud school carpark pickup is going off.”
Asked by reporters about his famous quote from March at the start of the lockdown — “[that you can’t] have all your mates around to home and get on the beers” — Andrews announced that he would in fact be reaching for the spirits.
However, not everyone was overjoyed.
News Corp columnist Sophie Elsworth said the short notice meant that some businesses “have just over one day to get sorted.”
Former Victoria premier Jeff Kennett said it was “long overdue,” but for others it was a moment of unqualified joy.
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