Sydney Lifts The Curfew, New South Wales PM: If You're Not Vaccinated, You Can't Go To Cafes And Restaurants

Illustration of a COVID-19 vaccination center in New South Wales. (Wikimedia Commons/Jass908)

JAKARTA - Sydney's curfew rules will expire on Wednesday evening local time, giving life to two million people in 12 Sydney suburbs affected by this rule due to the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

This move coincides with the announcement of a successful first-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate that has crossed 80 percent of the adult population, with those who have already received the full dose of 48 percent.

Although it is above the national COVID-19 vaccination average of just 43 percent, this figure is still far below the 70 percent level that allows for an easing of restrictions since they were implemented three months ago.

Authorities hope to hit the 70 percent level sometime in the middle of next month and plan to loosen more restrictions once it rises to 80 percent.

"The stabilization and decline in some of the areas of concern are pleasing and we are at a critical stage. However, the best advice we have is that it is too early and too risky to do anything further today", New South Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement. Sydney, citing Reuters Wednesday, September 15.

With the recent outbreak of the Delta variant so intense, forcing Sydney and Melbourne under strict lockdown, Australia's total number of coronavirus cases remains low compared to many other countries, with around 78.600 cases and 1.116 deaths.

Berejiklian warns that when the state's vaccination rate hits 7i percent, vaccinated people are promised more freedom. On the other hand, those who were not vaccinated would be breaking the law if they entered public places.

"It's black and white. If you're not vaccinated, you can't go to a restaurant, you can't go to a cafe", the New South Wales PM said, urging those who weren't vaccinated to get an injection immediately.

New South Wales, the epicenter of the outbreak of the Australian Delta variant, reported a slight increase in new infections to 1.259, the majority in Sydney, from 1.127 on Tuesday, with 12 new deaths reported.

Kangaroo is struggling to quell a third wave of infections that has hit its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, and the capital Canberra, forcing nearly half of the country's 25 million people to stay at home.

Meanwhile, neighboring Victoria on Wednesday said new cases fell for a second straight day to 423 new cases as the first-dose vaccination rate neared 70 percent, about a week ahead of schedule, with some restrictions on travel and exercise limits. outdoors will be loosened.

The opposite is true in Ballarat, a regional city 115km northwest of Melbourne, which will enter a one-week lockdown starting Wednesday evening, after four new cases of COVID-19 were detected, authorities said.

Melbourne, the state capital, is under an extended lockdown while most of Victoria's regional areas came out of strict stay-at-home restrictions last week.