Melbourne reopened yesterday after enduring one of the world’s most prolonged series of lockdowns, with relieved residents toasting their freedom in bars and restaurants, or queuing for desperately needed haircuts.
The 5 million people living in Australia’s second-largest city have spent more than 260 days under lockdown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, now that 70 percent of eligible people in Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, many of the restrictions that began on Aug. 5 have been lifted.
Photo: AFP
“As my kids say, there’s a big vibe today,” Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said. “You can feel the optimism. You can sense the pride in what’s been achieved.”
“I’m trying not to sound like some kind of soppy dad here, but I am proud, bloody proud of this state,” Andrews said.
He urged residents to “get out there,” and “get a trim, order a meal or buy a mate a drink.”
A total of six lockdowns have taken their toll on the once-buzzing city, which has long prided itself on its vibrant arts scene and cafe culture.
It lost the mantle this year of Australia’s most livable city amid violent anti-lockdown protests and residents leaving to regional towns that are free of COVID-19.
“I’d forgotten what they looked like,” said George, a cafe patron who was reuniting with friends for the first time.
“We’re waiting to really start celebrating properly,” he said. “We’re just going to go crazy.”
Struggling bar, restaurant and hair salon owners hailed the return of their customers and a welcome onslaught of business.
“People are just going nuts, trying to book and calling: ‘Please can you squeeze me in?’” said Marcela Rodriguez, co-founder of Vamos Fitzroy in Melbourne’s Latin Quarter.
“Now we need to be very, very careful with numbers and complying with all the rules, so I think that is the challenge,” she told Melbourne newspaper The Age.
One inner-city hairdresser said that people had been queuing since 4:30am and were still waiting for cuts.
Despite increased freedoms for fully vaccinated Melbourne residents, they still cannot leave the city, and retail shops must remain closed until the double-dose vaccination rate reaches 80 percent — likely within weeks.
Limits on patrons at cafes, bars and restaurants are to remain in place.
Victoria is poised to lift quarantine requirements for international travelers at the end of the month.
Sydney and the surrounding state of New South Wales are also set to scrap the requirements on Nov. 1.
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