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A 112-day lockdown in Melbourne and Victoria, Australia, one of the longest in the world, will end on Wednesday. After almost four months, people will be able to leave the house freely again; Bars, restaurants and shops will reopen and home visits and meetings between people from different families will once again be allowed. This was announced on Monday by the Labor Governor of the state, Daniel Andrews, explaining that the number of new infections in recent weeks has remained very low and that this will allow to end the strictest restrictions.
In Melbourne, where 5 million people live, restrictions to contain infections were imposed on July 8, when in the state of Victoria there were about 200 new cases a day and the situation was the most serious of all. country. These were not the first restrictions imposed in the state, which had already taken steps to contain the epidemic between March and May, but they were the most severe.
Andrews had explained that you had to “be realistic” and that the situation would not improve if very strict rules were not imposed on everyone. In the first phase of the confinement, he allowed himself to leave the house only to go to work, go to school and go shopping for the basics; all travel would be limited to a “reasonable distance” from the home and outdoor exercise was allowed.
New daily cases in the state had peaked in late July, when 700 daily cases had been surpassed: then they began to decline. In early August, while things were looking up, Andrews announced new restrictions, including a one-hour limit on outdoor physical activity, a ban on travel more than 3 miles from home, and a nightly curfew.
At the beginning of September, new cases were back at around 100 per day and steadily declining, allowing a first relief from limitations at the end of the month. Over the past two weeks, an average of 4.6 coronavirus cases have been confirmed per day in Melbourne, while the average number of new cases for the entire state of Victoria, which has nearly 7 million residents, was 0.2 . On Monday, for the first time since June, there were no new cases in the state.
As of Wednesday, when the stricter rules no longer apply, some restrictions will remain in place, such as a maximum number of people for outdoor gatherings and a maximum number of clients in bars and restaurants. As of November 8, there will be a greater relaxation of restrictions, with the end of all travel limits, the reopening of gyms and less severe limits for bars and restaurants. Andrews said he was optimistic that Christmas could be celebrated under near normal conditions, but asked all his fellow citizens to remain vigilant and abide by the rules.
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