Melbourne: The coronavirus lockdown imposed in Melbourne will be lifted late on Tuesday as Delta variant outbreak in Australia’s second-biggest city has been contained.
Neighbouring South Australia state will also ease stay-at-home rules.
After almost two weeks under stay-at-home orders, millions in Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will exit their fifth lockdown just before midnight Tuesday.
Schools, restaurants and shops will also reopen but restrictions including mask-wearing will remain.
In Sydney, officials announced 172 new cases linked to an outbreak that began in June when a local driver contracted the virus from an international flight crew.
Australia was lauded for its early pandemic success, after slamming shut its international borders and moving quickly to quash Covid-19 clusters.
The country has recorded more than 33,000 infections and 920 Covid-related deaths in a population of 25 million.
