[ad_1]
In Melbourne, the confinement lasted almost four months.
| Reading time: 3 minutes
“I am very excited to be able to drink this beer here now”
People in Melbourne, Australia, are visiting bars and restaurants again. The curfew was in effect for 112 days. Therefore, the reopening was celebrated in a big way.
Party since midnight: When the one-month curfew was lifted in the state of Victoria, the bars were immediately packed. Statistics show how effective the measure was. But downtown Melbourne is no longer the same.
reThe seconds to midnight were counted like New Year’s Eve, then there were cheers and confetti – residents and businessmen in the Australian city of Melbourne celebrated the end of the month-long crown closing.
The curfew was abruptly lifted on Wednesday, and soon after the bars were filled with partying guests. In the state of Victoria with its capital Melbourne, two new infections and two more deaths were registered on Wednesday.
“We have been waiting for this for a long time,” said bar operator Greg Sanderson of the AFP news agency. His bar was closed about 60 percent of the year. Sanderson didn’t open it until March, three days before he had to close it again due to the pandemic. As soon as authorities allowed the opening again, he said he took reservations for a champagne party.
Melbourne is a different city now
Department store manager Magda Combrinck was also happy to reopen after more than a hundred days. “We have been waiting for this day for so long,” he said. However, according to one of her clients, it didn’t feel like a return to normalcy.
During his walk through downtown Melbourne, many smaller stores were still closed, or perhaps closed forever, said Lesley Kind.
“It was a shock, everything was so calm,” said the 71-year-old. “It was nice to be back in the city, but it was a completely different city.” According to Australian government estimates, 1,000 jobs were lost each day as a result of the shutdown.
Restaurant guests sit at tables in the sun overlooking St. Kilda Beach
Source: dpa
Welcome back Melbourne says on the sign, a woman takes a selfie in front of him
Source: AFP
Melbourne restaurants filled up quickly
Quelle: Getty Images
Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said visits to other homes are allowed for the first time in months. Beauty salons and retail stores may also welcome customers back. The fitness studios will be closed until November 8. From then on, people in Melbourne will be able to travel again to other areas of Victoria; Until then, the radius will be limited to 25 kilometers outside the metropolis.
Based on numerous corona tests, the government has a fairly accurate idea of how strong the virus is still floating, Andrews added. He was sure that he could prevent the virus from spreading again in time. There are currently a dozen active coronavirus cases and a handful of coronavirus patients in Victoria hospital.
One of the longest exit restrictions in the world.
Victoria is Australia’s worst affected state by the corona pandemic and remains isolated from the rest of the country. Due to the corona pandemic, extremely strict requirements apply, the borders between individual states are closed.
The exit restriction for people in Melbourne was one of the longest in the world: it was introduced in early July and was therefore valid for 112 days. At that time, there were almost 200 new infections per day.
The number then rose to 700 in August, before a state of emergency was declared. Canberra’s central government had harshly criticized the extremely strict rules, including a two-month night ban.
Hundreds of people protested the restrictions in Melbourne late last week. There were also clashes with the police.
Overall, Australia has weathered the crisis relatively well so far, there have been around 27,500 corona infections and 907 deaths among a population of 25 million.
