SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – For the seventh straight day on Friday, the Australian state of Victoria reported zero locally transmitted cases of the pandemic. This proves that a strict four-month lockdown in the city of Melbourne successfully contained a second wave.
Victoria remained on track to ease the curbs on travel and allow movement between its capital Melbourne and other parts of the country, said Premier Daniel Andrews. However, he urged residents to remain alert.
“We can’t just pretend that seven days of zeros is like a vaccine against this virus, it isn’t,” he told media persons.
On Friday, the state of New South Wales marked four new locally transmitted cases and five others who were undergoing quarantine. Other states and territories have almost eliminated the virus.
Some curbs on crossing internal state and territory borders were relaxed in recent days.
The Victorian premier said travellers from neighbouring New Zealand would be permitted to fly directly to Melbourne from Monday and they need not undergo quarantine when they arrive. The country has allowed travellers from New Zealand since Oct. 16 under the first stage of a “travel bubble”.
In the wake of the relaxation of regional border rules, Qantas and Virgin Australia have announced they would increase their flights later this month on the Sydney-Melbourne route. It used to be one of the busiest in the world before the outbreak of the pandemic.
