SYDNEY: Australia’s second-largest city will allow its 5 million residents to travel more than 25kms from home and end mandatory masks wearing outdoors from Friday, despite the city fighting a stubborn COVID-19 outbreak.
Melbourne exited a two-week hard lockdown late last week, its fourth since the pandemic started, after an outbreak that has seen about 100 cases since May 24.
Although cases linked to a fresh cluster in a residential townhouse complex rose slightly on Wednesday, Melbourne will gradually ease restrictions.
Public gatherings will increase to 20 individuals whereas the ban on home gatherings will be lifted. Gyms can open across Melbourne however must comply with strict distancing guidelines and salon services can operate without masks during service.
Victoria reported 5 new local cases on Wednesday, all linked to the townhouse cluster, taking total infections there to eight. Wednesday’s knowledge includes two cases announced on Tuesday which were recorded after the midnight cut-off deadline.
Officials deemed the new cases pose low risks of community spread as all have been linked to the existing outbreak however warned individuals to strictly follow the social distancing guidelines.
“It isn’t over but by no means … please don’t go back to behaviors that would suggest that there’s absolutely no risk,” Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton mentioned during a televised media conference.
Swift contact tracing, snap lockdowns and strict social distancing measures has helped Australia successfully combat prior outbreaks and keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just under 30,300 cases and 910 deaths.
Daily cases have remained in single digits for the last 9 days in Victoria whereas other states and territories have effectively eliminated the virus.