SYDNEY – Elated Sydneysiders defied grey skies and rain to celebrate the lifting of almost four months of lockdown today, hoping to put behind them a period of “blood, sweat and no beers” in Australia’s largest city.
Sydney’s more than five million residents have been subjected to a 106-day Covid-19 lockdown, designed to limit the march of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
With new infections now falling – New South Wales state recorded 479 cases today – and more than 70% of over-16s double-vaccinated, the city is dusting off the cobwebs.
Cafés and restaurants threw open their doors to anyone able to prove that they are vaccinated, while shaggy-haired customers lined up outside hairdressers to get their home cuts and hair dyes repaired.
“It’s a great vibe this morning,” said Hannah Simmons, owner of Gordon’s Café in the beachside suburb of Clovelly who survived the lockdown hit to her business by offering takeaways including dinners.
“The outside seating will be a little bit dreary, but that’s okay. We are really excited to be back there and open. That’s great.”
Outside the café, builder Nick James said getting work was “up and down” in the construction business during the lockdown.
“It would be nicer if it was a bit more sunny, but what can you do.”
For many, the end of the lockdown is a chance to get into the shops. At midnight, hundreds of people poured into a discount Kmart store in the western suburb of Mount Druitt, with social media images showing long queues forming inside.
Since June, shops, schools, salons and offices have been closed for non-essential workers, and there have been unprecedented restrictions on personal freedom.
There were bans on everything from travelling more than 5km from home, visiting family, playing squash and browsing in supermarkets to attending funerals.
“Very few countries have taken as stringent or extreme an approach to managing Covid-19 as Australia,” Tim Soutphommasane, an academic and former Australian race discrimination commissioner, told AFP.
There will still be limits on mass gatherings, and international borders and schools will not fully reopen for a few weeks. Otherwise, daily life will look more like normal.
For most of the pandemic, Australia successfully suppressed infections through border closures, lockdowns, and aggressive testing and tracing.
But, Delta put paid to any dream of “Covid-zero”, at least in the largest cities of Melbourne and Sydney, which are now pivoting to “living with Covid-19”.
“It’s a big day for our state,” said New South Wales’ recently appointed conservative premier Dominic Perrottet.
After “100 days of blood, sweat and no beers… you’ve earned it”.
However, there are also fears that reopening will inevitably bring a rash of new infections.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) this week pilloried Perrottet when he appeared to shift the focus away from health and on to economic recovery.
“AMA supports the gradual opening up of the economy and the loosening of restrictions, but it is critical to observe the impact of each step on transmission and case numbers.
“Otherwise, New South Wales may still see hospitals become completely overwhelmed despite high vaccination rates.” – AFP, October 11, 2021
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