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MELBOURNE: Lockdown restrictions in the Australian state of Victoria will be eased very slightly starting Monday (Sept. 14), state officials said, as the number of new daily coronavirus cases continued to fall at the country’s hotspot.
Announcing a $ A3 billion ($ 2.2 billion) financial aid package for businesses in Victoria, home to a quarter of Australia’s population, authorities also said there were 41 new coronavirus infections on Sunday and seven more deaths.
The numbers confirm a steady downward trend from a peak of more than 700 cases in a single day in early August. Victoria accounts for about 75 percent of Australia’s more than 26,600 COVID-19 cases and its capital Melbourne has been under strict lockdown for several weeks.
The city will remain under strict lockdown, but the amount of time people will be able to spend outside will double to two hours a day and the overnight curfew will be reduced by one hour starting Monday.
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“They are small steps, but that’s the safe, absolutely appropriate, with numbers still going down, but (remaining) too high to open,” Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said in a televised briefing.
Businesses, primarily hospitality, retail and tourism businesses, that have been shut down entirely or whose operations have been substantially reduced will have access to grants and tax breaks through the state’s largest business support package yet, he announced. .
“It is unprecedented because the challenge we face is unprecedented,” Andrews said. “Nobody enjoys the reality that we face, but none of us have the option to ignore the reality that we face.”
READ: Australia’s Q2 GDP Shrinks at Record Rate As COVID-19 Pushes Country Into Recession
Victoria accounts for about a quarter of Australia’s annual economic output.
In neighboring New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, where social distancing rules are much more relaxed and retailers and restaurants can open, officials recorded nine new cases of the new coronavirus on Sunday.
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