Car horns honked in the streets and declarations echoed that people could 鈥済et back on the beers鈥�, as residents of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria celebrated a double milestone on 26 October.
After 111 days of lockdown 鈥� one of the longest and most stringent in the world 鈥� Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, announced an聽easing of restrictions in the city聽as聽well as what some called a聽鈥渄ouble-doughnut day鈥�: one with聽0 new coronavirus cases and聽0 deaths in the state.
鈥淣ow is the time to open up,鈥澛爏aid Andrews at a press conference. From 11.59聽pm on 27聽October, bars, restaurants and聽retail shops in Melbourne reopened for the first time in more聽than three months.
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The last time Victoria recorded no new daily cases was on 9聽June. A聽second wave of covid-19 in the state began in July, originating from Australians who had returned from abroad and were being held in hotel quarantine in Melbourne. Breaches caused the spread of the virus.
The state鈥檚 seven-day average for聽new daily cases reached a high of 533 on 5 August 鈥� a similar figure聽at the time to that of many聽European countries.
With the exception of Singapore, few other regions have managed to successfully suppress a second wave of the scale seen in Victoria. As case numbers soar in the UK, US and many European nations, are there any lessons to be聽learned from this success story?
What is clear is that the results were hard won. A second state-wide lockdown was imposed when聽new cases exceeded 100 per day, and Victorians were legally required to wear face masks at all times outside the home, except while exercising.
Melbourne residents faced particularly stringent measures, including home confinement, a聽strictly enforced night-time curfew and a ban on travelling more than 5 kilometres away from聽their places of residence, except for essential work.
Victoria鈥檚 success has resulted聽from both clear government direction and high聽public compliance, says Stephen Duckett聽at the Grattan Institute, a聽public policy think tank based in Melbourne. 鈥淭here was high-level observance of mask聽wearing, a high level of observance of not going outside. The streets were dead.鈥�
The lockdown has taken a toll on mental health, employment rates and businesses. 鈥淭here was general community acceptance that despite those costs, this was聽the right thing to do,鈥� says Duckett. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been tough. We were聽all in it together.鈥�
Public health policy is set by the state governments of Australia, most of which have pursued an elimination strategy in handling covid-19, even though this was generally viewed as an unrealistic goal at the outset of the pandemic.
Through a combination of border closures, lockdowns and extensive testing and contact tracing, a handful of jurisdictions have largely eliminated covid-19, including New Zealand and the Australian states of Tasmania and聽Western Australia.
The Australian borders were closed early in the pandemic, with entry banned to non-residents and non-citizens. Since the end of聽March, all returning citizens and residents have been required to quarantine for two weeks in hotels. Internal borders between certain Australian states have also been closed, with some interstate travellers also being required to complete hotel quarantine.
Andrews has warned of the risks聽of transmission indoors, and聽many restrictions still remain. Melbournians will probably support a cautious reopening, says Duckett. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to go聽through this again. We know there鈥檚 been pain.鈥�
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