Sydney COVID-19 Vaccination Exceeds Target: Retail Stores, Pubs And Gyms Can Open Faster

Illustration of a store's social distancing implementation in Sydney, Australia. (Wikimedia Commons/Blue Mountains Library)

JAKARTA - New South Wales could loosen more restrictions in Sydney a week earlier than planned on October 18, as Australia's most populous state is moving towards its target of 80 percent double-dose vaccination, the government said on Wednesday.

Australia's southeastern state is expected to hit its target over the weekend, exceeding forecasts, and officials had previously pledged to ease further restrictions on its vaccinated population by the first Monday after the target was reached.

"If we hit 80 percent (of the COVID-19 vaccine) we always said it would be the following Monday," state Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet told ABC Radio, citing Reuters Oct. 13.

"We will discuss with our team on Thursday and we will make a decision to be announced on Friday," he continued.

Retail stores, pubs and gyms can allow more customers to be vaccinated when the inoculation reaches 80 percent. Mandatory masks will not be required inside offices and nightclubs can reopen for sit-down drinking, while weddings can have unlimited guests.

More than 5 million Sydney residents emerged from a nearly four-month lockdown on Monday, after a 70 per cent vaccination target was reached with state officials promising gradual easing of remaining restrictions after vaccination rates hit 80 per cent and 90 per cent.

Earlier, the New South Wales Government had warned infections would increase with reopening but had dismissed warnings from some health experts that hospitals could be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases under Perrottet's strategy of living with the virus.

Daily infections in New South Wales rose to 444 on Wednesday, up from 360 the day before, but far down from a record high daily infection case of 1,599 in early September.

Australia is in the grip of a third wave of infections triggered by the Delta variant that hit Sydney and Melbourne, its two largest cities and the capital Canberra.

Canberra's 400,000 residents will come out of lockdown on Friday as the first-dose vaccination rate hits 95 percent, one of the highest among Australia's regional capitals.

Victoria, which includes Melbourne, suffered the deadliest day of the Delta variant outbreak on Wednesday with 13 deaths. The state also reported 1,571 new infections, up from 1,466 on Tuesday.

To note, Australia has so far managed to keep its coronavirus count relatively low, with around 133,400 cases and 1,478 deaths since the pandemic.