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Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state and the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, will accelerate the relief of social distancing restrictions as infections decline to fewer than 20 cases per day.
The state reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, having placed nearly 5 million residents in its capital Melbourne under one of the world’s tightest closures since early August.
With cases well below the one-day record of more than 700 cases reported in August, state Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said some restrictions, including a night curfew, will be lifted almost immediately.
The remaining hurdles could be relaxed sooner, with restrictions eased when case numbers hit certain factors. The state of Victoria previously said that most of the restrictions would remain in effect until the end of November.
“We are ahead of schedule, we have advanced more than we expected at this point,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.
“But that doesn’t mean this is over.”
The fast-paced schedule to remove restrictions in Victoria is a boost to Australia’s ailing economy. The outbreak in Victoria undermined any hope for a rapid economic rebound as Australia enters its first recession in three decades and actual unemployment surpasses 10 percent.
In an immediate boost to the economy, the state of Victoria said 127,000 workers will be able to return to work on Monday, an increase of 30,000 from its previous plan announced earlier this month.
More than 1 million people in Victoria have been receiving wage subsidies from the federal government after large swaths of the state were ordered shut down in August to slow the spread of the virus.
However, the restrictions have prevented a second national wave of the virus.
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, today reported its first day without a Covid-19 case in more than three months.
Australia has reported just over 27,000 cases and 872 deaths, well below the numbers seen in many other developed nations. -Reuters
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