Freedom Day after 106 days in lockdown for New South Wales

Patrons eat and drink in a bar in Sydney after the lockdown ended on Sunday. Pic/AFP

As Sydney, capital of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), exited its 106-day lockdown Sunday, residents have re-emerged to celebrate a long-awaited "Freedom Day".

As some lockdown restrictions officially ended at midnight on Sunday and non-essential retail re-opened their doors, local Australians have lined up to get haircuts, visited 24-hour retail stores, and headed to the gym since the early hours of the morning.

Speaking at a press conference held at a bar on Monday, newly instated Premier of NSW Dominic Perrottet referred to the easing of restrictions as the state's "Freedom Day".

"I see it as a day of freedom. It is a Freedom Day, it is. Businesses are opening up. But that means it needs to be done in a measured and safe way," he said.
"There are going to be challenged, we know that. I ask again everybody right across our state to treat everybody with kindness and respect, and take personal responsibility," said Perrottet.He said vaccinations would make lockdowns a thing of the past.

"We need to learn to live alongside the virus, vaccination rates are the key, we've been doing that in New South Wales," he said. At present NSW's vaccination rate sits at 73.5 per cent of the over-16 population having received both doses, and 90.3 per cent having received at least one dose.

NZ doctors must soon be vaccinated

Most of New Zealand's health care workers and teachers will soon be legally required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, the government announced Monday. A new mandate compels doctors, pharmacists, community nurses and other health care workers to be vaccinated by December. Teachers and other education workers must be fully vaccinated by January.

Un-jabbed Jair misses game

Brazil's president claimed that COVID-19 protocols at soccer matches had prevented him from attending a game. Jair Bolsonaro said he had wanted to go to a Brazilian championship match in the city of Santos, but did not because he is not vaccinated. "Why a vaccine passport? I wanted to watch Santos now and they said I needed to be vaccinated. Why should that be?" Bolsonaro told journalists near Santos. The protocol agreed by the Brazilian soccer confederation says all people inside stadiums must be vaccinated and recently tested.

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