Sydney gets ready to emerge from 107-day Covid lockdown

Sydney

LIKE thousands of eateries across Sydney, Bistecca, near the famous Opera House, went from packing in diners to "zero trade" in June as Australia's biggest city endured one of the world's strictest Covid lockdowns after an outbreak of the Delta variant.

Now, with virus-related measures in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, to begin easing on Oct 11, bookings are streaming in.

"We are pretty much opening up to almost our full trading hours right off the bat," said co-owner James Bradey. "It is going gangbusters."

He's not the only one preparing to get back to business. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Thursday that life is set to start returning to normal, after the vaccination rate for people over the age of 16 hit 70 per cent. In the initial reopening stage, non-essential retail stores, pubs and gyms will be allowed to reopen to fully vaccinated patrons, with capacity limits.

"We know that this is not just a health crisis, it's an economic crisis, too," Perrottet said at a press conference. "If we continue to make the effort and make the sacrifices that we have all been making, New South Wales will be open again."

Schools will begin returning on Oct 18, with vaccines mandatory for teachers and masks required for staff and high school students, state education minister Sarah Mitchell said. Government schools would not mandate vaccines for students, she said.

The reopening comes despite the state recording 587 virus cases on Thursday, after the government abandoned its formerly strong commitment to a Covid Zero stance. This departure is dividing Australia as some other states remain steadfastly committed to keeping their borders closed.

As other parts of the world including the US and UK were overwhelmed by Covid last year, life in Sydney went on largely as normal, bolstered by the state's strict quarantine and contact tracing systems. The months of lockdown, spurred by an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant in June, sent residents reeling in a city that had been seen as a rare global success story in halting the spread of the virus. Eventually, masks became largely mandatory outdoors. Police patrolled Sydney's famous beaches.

Under the NSW roadmap, once the adult vaccination rate hits 80 per cent, expected by the end of the month, a further relaxation of rules will be applicable for vaccinated residents, including mask mandates being scrapped for offices. A third lifting on Dec 1 will include eased restrictions on venue capacity for offices and nightclubs, as well as freedoms for unvaccinated residents.

In November, Sydney will also start to welcome flights full of thousands of Australians who have been stranded abroad - and others who have been unable to leave the country since early 2020 - as strict international border controls begin lifting.

"We're in the home stretch and we're moving towards that line," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, adding that "81 per cent of over-16s right around the country are now first-dose vaccinated". BLOOMBERG