Sydney, Oct 12 (BNA) Prime Minister Andrew Barr said on Tuesday that a coronavirus lockdown in the Australian Capital Territory, home to the capital Canberra, will end this week after two months.
Barr confirmed that the closure will be lifted from Thursday at 11:59 pm (12:59 GMT), the date that was set in mid-September.
During his daily briefing on Covid-19, Barr said 72 percent of the county’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated.
“Our first dose levels indicate that this will reach nearly 99 percent of full vaccinations by the end of November,” Barr was quoted by German news agency DPA as saying.
Starting Friday, up to five people will be allowed to visit another home, and up to 25 people will be allowed to gather outdoors.
Licensed premises will be allowed to accommodate 25 customers throughout the venue or one per four square meters – whichever is less. Instead, up to 50 beneficiaries will be allowed to sit outside.
Personal services such as hairdressers will also be allowed to reopen with limits, while retail will only be able to receive customers with reservations.
It will allow outdoor community sports training to resume with 25-person caps and allow swimming pools to reopen with 25 swimmers throughout the venue and up to two swimmers per lane.
The ACT initially imposed a seven-day lockdown in August after it recorded its first case of Covid-19 in the community since July 2020.
On Tuesday, the province recorded 28 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total from the current outbreak to 1,262 cases and six deaths.
About 430,000 people live in the ACT.
HF