Sydney to exit COVID-19 lockdown next week after vaccination rate hits 70%

SYDNEY, Oct. 7 (Reuters) – COVID-19 restrictions will be further eased in Sydney from Monday, authorities said, as Australia’s largest city appears poised to emerge from a lockdown of almost four months after reaching his goal of 70% complete immunization.

Fully vaccinated people in the state of New South Wales (NSW) will be able to leave their homes for any reason, including to visit pubs, retail stores, cinemas and gymnasiums, which will reopen according to strict social distancing rules.

The number of vaccinated visitors allowed to assemble in a household will double to 10, while the limit of people vaccinated at weddings and funerals will be raised to 100. Nightclubs may partially reopen to vaccinated people once inoculations reach 80%, sooner than expected, and masks will not be mandatory in offices.

The state will use a vaccination passport system to ensure those who have not been fully vaccinated remain under strict stay-at-home orders until December 1.

“Vaccination is the key to our freedom and the sacrifices and efforts of people across New South Wales have enabled us to open up as quickly and safely as possible,” the Premier said on Thursday. Dominic Perrottet State to reporters in Sydney.

Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities, and the capital Canberra have been stranded for several weeks to quell an outbreak of Delta that has pushed Australia’s $ 2 trillion ($ 1.5 trillion) economy to the brink. of a second recession in as many years.

Authorities in these cities have abandoned attempts to eliminate the virus and are now aiming to gradually lift restrictions as vaccination rates in the adult population cross 70%, 80% and 90%.

Australia has remained largely virus-free for most of this year until a third wave of infections fueled by the rapidly evolving Delta spread across its southeast.

Still, its coronavirus count is relatively low, with some 120,000 cases and 1,381 deaths. Daily infections in New South Wales fell to their lowest in more than seven weeks at 587 on Thursday, while cases in Victoria rose to 1,638, its second-highest daily increase in infections.

States with very few cases say they will keep their borders closed to New South Wales and Victoria even after full vaccination levels reach 80%, amid fears that a hasty reopening will overwhelm their systems health.

($ 1 = AU $ 1.3734)

Report by Renju José; Editing by Stephen Coates

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