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MELBOURNE: Residents of Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, enjoyed their first weekend of relative freedom on Saturday (October 31) after a nearly four-month lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases continued decreasing.
As Melburnians have flocked to parks, tennis courts, restaurants and shops, officials reported only one new case of COVID-19 in the state of Victoria and there were no deaths. That was well below the daily average of new cases of about 700 in July and early August.
“We need to enjoy our lives after three months of really limited activity,” Victoria’s health director Brett Sutton said at a news conference Sunday.
However, some travel restrictions remain and venues, such as libraries and cinemas, remain closed in Melbourne. Authorities are expected to announce further easing of the restrictions starting November 9.
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Australia has fared much better than many countries in handling the pandemic, recording just over 27,500 cases and 907 deaths since the beginning of the year. As of Friday, there were just under 200 active cases.
The government announced on Saturday that it would spend A $ 500 million (US $ 351 million) over the next three years to help Pacific and Southeast Asian countries implement vaccination programs against COVID-19.
The government has agreements with Britain’s AstraZeneca Plc and Australia’s University of Queensland for potential vaccines, and has promised free immunization for all Australians and donations to regional partners.
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