Premier Daniel Andrews has promised there will be “no more lockdowns” as Victorians enjoy their first day of freedom after hitting the 70 per cent double dose vaccine milestone.
Statewide and citywide lockdowns have been ruled out by Premier Daniel Andrews after stay-at-home restrictions were lifted in Melbourne at 11:59pm on Thursday night.
Victoria’s vaccine rollout is picking up speed with 71 per cent of the eligible population now fully vaccinated and 90.5 per cent having received one dose.
National Cabinet’s plan which has been backed by all state and territory leaders allows for rare and targeted lockdowns if future outbreaks occur - larger lockdowns have been rejected.
Mr Andrews confirmed he would stand by the nationwide plan in the future.
“We’re not having statewide lockdowns, we’re not having citywide lockdowns, because people have gone and done what we’ve asked them to do,” he said.
“Now we’re delivering what we said we’d do.”
“There’s a national plan. We’re delivering the national plan. We are completely faithful to the national plan,” he said at a previous press conference.
Victoria is finally exiting its sixth lockdown after having spent 262 days under stay-at-home restrictions in total, breaking the record which was previously held by Buenos Aires at 245 days.
Ireland is third in the runnings with 227 days spent in lockdown, followed by Northern Ireland on 223 days and England on 213 days.
When Mr Andrews plunged the state into lockdown on August 5, 2021 after eight COVID-19 cases, he claimed he wanted to go “hard and early” to avoid an extended Sydney-style lockdown.
Yet 11 weeks later Melbourne is only just exiting hard lockdown with cases soaring over the 2,000 mark on Friday and hospitalised cases at 784.
Last week the state recorded its worst daily figure of 2,297 cases – and a pandemic record for Victoria.
A second wave of restrictions are set to ease in Victoria on November 5 when the 80 per cent double dose target is expected to be reached.
Mr Andrews posted on Twitter on Friday to usher in Victoria’s long awaited Freedom Day as the state leaves lockdown behind for good.
“You can feel the optimism. You can sense the pride in what’s been achieved and after everything it’s taken to get here, we absolutely deserve to feel that way,” he tweeted.
“I'm trying not to sound like some kind of soppy dad here, but I am proud, bloody proud of this state.
“We've gone through such a hard time together, this pandemic has been exhausting in every sense of the word.
“And the fact that we're here today, and opening up, is only because of the sacrifices made by every one of us.”
Mr Andrews acknowledged it might take some time for the state to recover from the lockdown reminding Victorians “the pandemic isn’t over”.
“People won't just spring back from this either, the pandemic isn't over, and feeling a bit anxious about all this is normal,” he said.
“So if you're heading out today - please just remember that this will take time, not everyone will be so ready to throw open their front door.
“And the process of reopening won't be without flaws either, we all know that. It will take a lot of patience and understanding.”
The reopening comes as the state recorded 2,189 new cases and 16 deaths - the deadliest day of the current Delta outbreak.
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2021-10-22 07:16:44Z
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