Australia's government reveals road map out of lockdown
At the same time as Australia’s police were reported to have arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney at unsanctioned anti-lockdown rallies, the Australian government has revealed the road map out of lockdown.
Australia's second-largest city will exit its coronavirus lockdown in late October if vaccine targets are met under an official roadmap released Sunday. About five million people in Melbourne have been under stay-at-home orders since August 5, the sixth lockdown they have endured so far during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Officials in Victoria state, which includes Melbourne, announced those orders would be lifted when 70 percent of over-16s are fully vaccinated. They projected that target would be reached around October 26.
"Lockdown will end. The (limited) reasons to leave your home and the curfew will no longer be in place," Victoria premier Dan Andrews said, adding that a raft of restrictions would still be enforced.
The Premier announced all healthcare workers would be required to have received at least the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine by October 155. He pointed to the “power” of mandatory jabs in the aged care sector where 98 per cent of the workforce had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“It remains a tightrope between ensuring that our health system is not overwhelmed but also being able to sustain us in our wellbeing and to protect us from those other harms that come from lockdown,” Mr Andrews said.
Meanwhile, AUD/USD is pressured from all sides with the Evergrande story gaining traction this week: