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AUSTRALIA’S SECOND LARGEST city has emerged from a four-month lockdown.
The Covid-19 restrictions were aimed at not only reducing the number of Covid-19 cases, but reducing them to less than an average of five Covid-19 cases linked to community transmission per 100,000 over 14 days.
Melbourne and the surrounding state of Victoria have been the epicenter of Australia’s second wave – the state’s outbreak peaked with more than 700 cases a day in late July.
Although this may seem small, the cases and deaths in Victoria have made up the majority of Australia’s total; More than 90% of the total 905 deaths from Covid-19 in Australia are from that state.
As a result, the state of Victoria and Melbourne’s population of 5 million have remained under a lockdown that has isolated them from the rest of the country, which has returned to a kind of normalcy.
But after a strict four-month lockdown and a “double donut,” what locals have dubbed two days with no new coronavirus cases or deaths, a stay-at-home and forced closures of non-essential businesses end at midnight in Australia. (13:00 Irish time).
In the entire state of Victoria, there are now only 87 active cases of coronavirus and five people hospitalized with the virus. The incidence rate is now 0.2 cases per 100,000 over an average of 14 days in Victoria and 2.8 in the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Source: DHHS.vic.gov.au
This is how it was done and a bit about the strategy that Melbourne was pursuing.
How did things get so bad in Melbourne?
The spread of Covid-19 in Victoria was triggered when the virus leaked into the community from Melbourne hotels used to quarantine foreign travelers.
This is said to have been because the rules were not adhered to strictly enough.
The virus also entered Victorian nursing homes, with more than 100 residents dying since early August and nearly 2,000 active infections linked to the facilities; currently active cases in nursing homes have been reduced to three in total.
A list of where individual cases were when they are believed to have contracted Covid-19 is provided on the Victoria Department of Health and Human Services Covid-19 page. All of the latter are related to train travel.
The government said protective gear in high-risk workplaces, mandatory masks in public and physical distancing were key to its reopening strategy.
What were the restrictions?
Melbourne was initially only meant to stay locked up for six weeks, the same amount of time Ireland’s Tier 5 will stay in place.
Although the Melbourne closure began in early July, stricter restrictions were imposed in early August whereby residents could only travel within its 5km; one hour of exercise a day; traveling to buy food; or travel for work if your business is considered essential (apart from the time limit for exercise, it is similar to Level 5 in Ireland).
Other restrictions included an overnight curfew and advice against visiting or meeting with other households.
These were introduced in August and were due to end on September 12, but were expanded to eradicate the virus further on September 6. There were 63 new cases of Covid-19 and five deaths recorded that day.
Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said: “If we open too fast then we have a very high probability that we are not opening at all, we are just starting a third wave.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews departs after a press conference in Melbourne. Sunday October 25.
Source: AAP / PA Images
Most of the measures were extended again until October 26, but some of the toughest restrictions were lifted on September 13: the night curfew was extended to an hour later at 9 p.m., the daily exercise was increased to two hours and small social bubbles were created for people who live alone.
As of now (shortly after midnight in Australia), Melbourne has relaxed its restrictions to:
- People are free to leave their homes for the first time in months, but are subject to a 25 km limit.
- Retail stores, restaurants, cafes and bars can reopen with a group limit of 10.
- Outdoor gatherings of 10 people, including weddings, can be held, while funerals can have up to 20 mourners.
- Beauty salons and retail stores will also be allowed to open, but gyms will be forced to wait until November 8.
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Travel restrictions between Melbourne and regional parts of the state will be lifted as of November 8, and a 25-kilometer travel radius will be established for city residents to be lifted the same day.
But for now, the state remains isolated from the rest of Australia, which overall has recorded around 27,500 cases and 905 deaths in a population of 25 million.
Evidence, surveillance and protests
Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said that the high testing rates in recent weeks had contributed to the low number of cases and had been “nothing short of staggering.”
The confinement was heavily guarded and is one of the toughest in the world.
There were a series of protests against the shutdown in August and early September, with arrests and fines issued to some attendees.
Andrews said in response to protests in September that the state could not afford to reopen too quickly.
“Nobody enjoys the reality that we face, but none of us have the option to ignore the reality that we face,” he said.
“We cannot open up now and stay open. It wouldn’t be safe, it wouldn’t be smart. “
– With report by © AFP 2020
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