Melbourne Set For Covid Lockdown Exit Despite Record Cases

Most new cases were detected in Melbourne, but the city's night curfew will also be lifted, while businesses can reopen with strict social distancing rules, according to the roadmap. More curbs will be relaxed when vaccination levels reach 80% and 90%.

Melbourne will exit months of COVID-19 lockdown next week helped by a faster-than-expected vaccine uptake, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday, ahead of schedule even though daily infections hit a record the same day.

In the worst day of an outbreak of the Delta variant coronavirus that began in early August, Victoria logged 2,297 new cases on Thursday, up from 1,571 the day before and the highest for any Australian state or territory since the pandemic began. Eleven people died, bringing the total toll in the latest outbreak to 125.

But the surge comes as Victoria also nears the 70% threshold for double-dose vaccination among eligible adults - the level at which authorities have promised to end strict stay-home restrictions. That target was originally expected to be met on Oct. 26, and the vaccination level was 62% as of Thursday.

"We will deliver the (reopening) road map ... You get vaccinated and we will open up and I do what I say," Victoria Premier Andrews said, speaking during a media briefing in Melbourne, the state capital.