Sydney, Sept 27 (BNA): Australian authorities on Monday announced plans to gradually reopen closed Sydney, unveiling a two-tiered system that would give citizens vaccinated with COVID-19 more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbors for several weeks.
Movement restrictions across New South Wales, the most populous state and home to Sydney, will be gradually lifted between October 11 and December 1 with vaccination rates rising to 70%, 80% and 90%.
However, people who are not fully vaccinated will not be allowed to participate in renewable activities, such as community sports, dining out and shopping, until the deadline.
“It is very important to note that unlike in most cases in the world if you are not vaccinated, you will have to wait for at least four or five weeks… in order to get involved in things that the rest of us can get involved in,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a televised briefing. , according to Reuters.
“The message is that if you want to be able to have a meal with friends and welcome people into your home, you should get vaccinated.”
Berejiklian did not detail how the activity ban would be enforced by unvaccinated people.
Sydney, along with Melbourne and Canberra, have been locked down for several weeks as the three cities borne the brunt of a third wave of COVID-19 infections that pushed national case numbers to nearly 100,000 – 68% recorded since mid-June.
However, the national death rate has slowed at 1,245 due to high levels of vaccination among the most vulnerable.
The delta-fueled outbreak has divided state and territory leaders, with some presiding over virus-free parts of the country suggesting they will defy the federal government’s plan to reopen internal borders once the adult population reaches a 70-80% vaccination rate, expected towards the end of October.
In New South Wales, where about 60% of people aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated, restaurants, pubs, retail stores, gyms and indoor leisure facilities will be allowed to reopen on October 11 – days after the state was expected to reach 70 general. % vaccination – with amplitude limits.
Once vaccination is achieved at 80%, which is expected two weeks later, travel will be permitted statewide. Restrictions on people attending funerals and weddings have been lifted, while social distancing is maintained, and the number of vaccinated people allowed to gather at home will double to 10.
From December 1, there will be no restrictions on home gatherings and informal outdoor gatherings. Indoors, capacity limits will continue, but masks will not be needed. Companies will be allowed to impose their own rules requiring recipients to be vaccinated after this date.
In neighboring Victoria, Prime Minister Daniel Andrews refused to commit to a date that would guarantee all citizens in his state, including the unvaccinated, significant freedoms before Christmas.
“I’m going to tell people, ‘Just wait five weeks and you’ll have all the liberties,'” he said. “No, that’s not a guarantee at all here. We didn’t make that decision.”
The states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, home to Canberra, reported just over 1,500 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday – the bulk of which is split roughly evenly between Sydney and Melbourne.
Daily numbers have been lower in recent weeks.
Victoria is expected to ease some restrictions from Wednesday when the state’s first dose vaccination rate is expected to exceed 80%, while New South Wales on Monday allowed construction sites to return to full capacity and outdoor swimming pools to reopen with social distancing rules.
Qantas Airways, which has already announced its intention to require travelers to fully vaccinate, said after Monday’s announcement that it would bring forward its reopening date for travel between Sydney and Melbourne to November 5, starting on December 1.
HF