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MELBOURNE: The Australian state of Victoria, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, will see some of its month-long restrictions lowered starting Monday (October 19), but retailers and restaurants should wait longer, the first said on Sunday. minister of state.
After more than 100 days in a strict lockdown, the 5 million people who live in Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, will be able to spend as much time outdoors as they want, but must stay within a 25km radius of their homes, he said. Prime Minister Daniel Andrews.
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Public meetings will remain strictly limited, and retailers and restaurants must operate only take-out or home delivery orders, with the state government anticipating their reopening for Nov. 1, Andrews said.
“I know and understand that not everything that everyone wanted is in the announcement I made today,” Andrews said at a news conference. “I announced today what is safe, but it will not undermine the sacrifice, the hard work, the pain, the incredible efforts that the Victorians have put in.”
Andrews, whose Labor Party government is opposed to the ruling Conservative Liberal Party, has come under pressure from the federal government to reopen, but said it will do only what it deems safe.
“If we do too much too fast, we’ll be where none of us want to be again,” Andrews said.
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On Sunday, Victoria recorded two new COVID-19 cases, extending its single-digit infection streak to five days and down from more than 700 daily cases in early August.
With 816 deaths, Australia’s second-largest state accounts for more than 90 percent of all lives lost to COVID-19 in Australia this year. Australia has recorded just over 27,300 infections, according to data from the Health Ministry, a fraction of what has been seen in some other countries.
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