Covid-19 in Australia: Sydney plans deconfinement in mid-October

Published on : 09/27/2021 – 06:32

Vaccinated Sydney residents see the end of the tunnel. They are expected to come out of a lockdown of more than three months in mid-October, authorities announced Monday (September 27th), unveiling a “plan for freedom” as the number of cases declines in the city of Australia.

The stay-at-home obligation must be lifted in Sydney and the state of New South Wales when the full Covid-19 vaccination rate exceeds 70%, a target that Prime Minister of the State Gladys Berejiklian expects to reach October 11.

“There is more than this week and next week to hold,” encouraged Gladys Berejiklian. “We’re almost, almost there, let’s not give up at the last minute.”

For the first time in more than three months, pubs, restaurants and shops will then be able to reopen to vaccinated customers and friends and families living in Australia’s largest city will be able to come together again.

The “plan for freedom” will also allow travel through New South Wales when 80% of those over 16 are vaccinated, a threshold that could be reached by the end of October, said Deputy Prime Minister John Barilaro.

The limitation on the number of guests at funerals and weddings will be lifted at the same time and sporting events can resume.

Unvaccinated adults will have to wait at least until December 1 to enjoy these same freedoms, when 90% of the population of age to be vaccinated should be.

A rebound in cases anticipated with deconfinement

The number of daily cases fell to 800 on Monday in New South Wales, from a peak of around 1,500 in September, and 85% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Gladys Berejiklian expects a rebound in the number of cases with the end of confinement but remains confident in the ability to manage these patients.

“We know that once we reopen with 70% of people having received two doses, the number of cases will skyrocket,” she warned.

“But what will protect us is the fact that a lot of people will have received at least the first dose of the vaccine and these people will have an extra layer of protection that will prevent them from ending up in the hospital, or worse.”

Containment lifted in Canberra in mid-October

Australia has suffered a winter wave of Covid-19 due to the highly contagious Delta variant, which has forced the country’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, to impose lockdown for several months.

But the vaccination campaign, slow to start, accelerated, allowing leaders to establish a reopening plan also including a resumption of international flights by the end of the year.

The capital Canberra also announced on Monday the end of its confinement for October 15, with the reopening of bars, beauty salons and gyms. Since mid-August, the authorities have asked the 400,000 inhabitants of the city to stay at home to stem a small but continuing epidemic.

With AFP