Sydney To Reopen Monday After 100 Days Of Lockdown

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION/April Pethybridge

JAKARTA - Sydney will reopen from Monday, October 11, after months of lockdown, officials said on Sunday.

The business community in Australia's largest city is ready to welcome residents who have been fully vaccinated.

New South Wales (NSW) reported 477 new cases of coronavirus and six deaths on Sunday, in an outbreak that has left 5 million people in Sydney, the state capital, in lockdown for 100 days.

Australia's most populous state has met the threshold of 70 percent of its population being fully vaccinated.

Therefore, NSW is ready to relax some restrictions and reopen many businesses, said NSW leader Dominic Perrottet.

"This is a special day for our state, and for everyone across New South Wales: you've earned it," Perrottet said. "It's been a hundred days of blood, sweat, no beer, but we'll be back in action tomorrow." quoted Antara from Reuters.

When asked what the first thing he did on Monday, Perrottet said, "I'm going to get a haircut."

Local media reported hair and beauty salons were fully booked for the coming weeks.

"We have stalled the day for them and put extra time in their agenda book so we can serve our clients as soon as possible," Joseph Hkeik, manager of several All Saints skin care clinics in Sydney, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

However, many social distancing restrictions and restrictions on public gatherings will remain in place for weeks, Perrett said.

Victoria, whose capital Melbourne has been under lockdown since early August, reported 1,890 new cases and five deaths on Sunday.

The state is expected to reopen at the end of October when 70 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Nationally, nearly 62 per cent of all Australians aged 16 and over have received two doses of the vaccine.

Once 80 per cent of eligible Australians are fully vaccinated, the country will gradually reopen international borders which have been closed since March 2020.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country of less than 26 million people remains significantly lower than many other developed countries, with 127,500 more infections and 1,432 deaths during the pandemic.

Neighboring New Zealand, which was virus-free until the Delta variant hit in mid-August, reported 60 new local cases, up from 34 on Saturday.