Australia's Melbourne celebrates end of lockdown as bars, restaurants reopen

The Australian city of Melbourne was celebrating the end of a near four-month lockdown due to COVID-19, with restaurants, bars and retail businesses reopening as the second wave of infections was effectively suppressed.

Release time : 2020-11-02 10:06:02

source : Xinhua

The Australian city of Melbourne saw restaurants, bars and retail businesses allowed to open for the first time in almost four months on Wednesday, as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted.

The city recorded no new infections or deaths on both Monday and Tuesday, paving the way for authorities to declare the second wave of infections, which peaked at over 700 daily cases in early August, effectively suppressed.

Many Aussies flocked to their favourite bars and retail outlets overnight to celebrate the midnight lifting of restrictions, with long-suffering business owners breathing a sigh of relief.

Melbourne native, Jeremy Meyn who is in his 20s told Xinhua that he was frantically making plans to catch up with friends over the weekend, many of whom he will be seeing for the first time since the lockdown began.

"It's a good feeling now that we're able to see each. Obviously there's restrictions on that but just being able to see my friends and have a few drinks just makes me feel much better," Meyn said.

Under the new rules groups of up to 10 people will be allowed to gather outside and residents no longer need a specific reason for leaving their homes, as well as a travel limit being extended from 5 km to 25 km from the home.

Despite the jubilant mood, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews warned those in Melbourne not to rush back to normality, and to continue to abide by social distancing regulations.

"I want to remind everyone that the rules still apply and the rules are not against you, they are for you. They are so you can continue to do these things," Andrews said.

After two consecutive days of no new cases and no deaths, the state recorded two new cases and two deaths on Wednesday, all linked to known outbreaks.

Mike, who lives in Epping of Melbourne, runs a professional video-filming studio and planned to take advantage of the reopening to fix some of his cameras at a nearby shopping center. However he decided not to when he heard that