Coronavirus: Melbourne parties as 112-day lockdown ends, but health experts urge caution
- Residents of Australia’s cultural capital were quick to celebrate the city overcoming its second wave of infection, which began in late June
- Thousands of businesses have reopened, but many are struggling – and infection specialists warn that the lockdown’s end is far from ‘game over’
Sang Lee was among those who relished the opportunity to blow off some steam, going to an “end of lockdown party” at a popular bar in the city to ring in 11.59pm on Tuesday, when restrictions were officially lifted.
“The vibe was electric. Everyone was giddy and had their walls down. We cracked dumb jokes with strangers, and then counted down to 11.59 like it was New Year’s Eve,” she said.
For Sang, like many of Melbourne’s 5 million residents, one of the biggest appeals of living in Australia’s cultural capital used to be the cafes, restaurants, bars, and live music that could be enjoyed most every day of the week.
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Some of this is returning – Daniel Andrews, Victoria state premier, said more than 16,000 shops, 5,800 cafes and 1,000 beauty salons reopened on Wednesday – but the antivirus restrictions have taken their toll.
Australia’s government earlier estimated the lockdown cost in the region of 1,000 jobs a day, with an untold number of businesses expected to close over the next few months as debts become due and safety nets disappear.
Melbourne and the surrounding state of Victoria had been the epicentre of Australia’s second wave of Covid-19 infections, with a peak of more than 700 new daily cases occurring in August.
By Monday in Melbourne that number had fallen to zero – a milestone marked with doughnuts by some as a fun visual analogy. Yet for intensive care nurse Caroline Dew, it brought tears.
“We were strong as we fronted up for Covid ICU training in the early days. We were strong that first time putting on full PPE and taking that first breath in a Covid isolation room. But I finally sobbed, alone in a supermarket, when I read zero cases and zero deaths,” she said.
Australia had largely curbed the spread of Covid-19 when the virus leaked into the community from hotels in Melbourne used to quarantine travellers from overseas.
During the ensuing lockdown, footfall in the city was down 90 per cent, according to the city council, leading shopkeepers like Maggie May and Josh Kelly of arts and crafts store Think Thornbury to consider closing their doors for good.
“We had no income and on top of that Josh has been very unwell as he’s going through cancer treatment at the moment and we also have an 18-month-old,” May said. “It’s been a massive process of evolution for our business and our lives.”
Because he is undergoing chemotherapy, Kelly still cannot return to the shop even though the lockdown has lifted, as his compromised immune system makes him vulnerable to infection.
“We’ve had to bring someone else in to help,” he said, adding: “We have faith in our local community. We supported them and so we now have to trust that they’ll do the same for us in return.”
We should take the time to celebrate and breathe the fresh air of freedom but remain aware that this is not ‘game over’
Not-for-profit restaurant group Lentils for Anything, which distributed between 1,500 and 1,800 food relief packages a week to those in need during the lockdown, also struggled. “We had to ask the community for help. Every little bit helped us stay open,” said Paula Gomez, one of its members.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison congratulated the city’s residents for making the lockdown work, saying “I hope you enjoy being out and about”.
But Professor Jodie McVernon of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne sounded a note of caution.
“We should take the time to celebrate and breathe the fresh air of freedom but remain aware that this is not ‘game over’ … rather a shift to the next phase of our Covid reality,” she said. “The challenge will be maintaining the everyday preventive behaviours that all of us can practice to reduce the risk of infection, as the current threat recedes into the background and we resume a life closer to our ‘normal’ experience.”
Or as DEW, the ICU nurse, put it: “As a society, as a health care worker, as a parent, as a Melburnian, I don’t know if we have enough strength to do it again. We have to make sure we get it right.”
Although stay-at-home orders and forced closures of “non-essential” business have come to an end, the city’s business owners have raised concerns that strict rules on the number of patrons mean many will initially be operating at a loss, with some urging the government to continue rolling back restrictions.
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Beauty salons also began welcoming back customers on Wednesday, but gyms have been forced to wait until November 8.
Restrictions on travel between Melbourne and regional parts of the state will also be lifted from November 8, with a 25km travel radius for city residents set to be removed the same day.
But for now, the state remains cut off from the rest of Australia, which overall has recorded about 27,500 cases and 907 deaths out of a population of 25 million.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
