The Victorian state government of Australia has announced an ease to mask restrictions and work from home recommendations from Feb. 25, citing declining COVID-19 hospitalisation rates and increasing third-dose vaccination rates.
Elective surgeries are also expected to resume with capacity based on staff availability and COVID-19 demands for public hospitals, whilst private hospitals are expected to resume to pre-pandemic activity for elective surgeries.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said on Feb. 22 that the state is “proud” to be supporting the COVID-19 vaccine program by “delivering more vaccines than any other state or territory and focusing on the Victorians who needed additional access and support.”
“We’re balancing the need to support our health system with the benefits of easing restrictions in a careful and sensible way.”
Meanwhile, an expert in child health from the University of Melbourne has warned that children should not endure tougher restrictions than adults.
Scheme to Repair Economy After COVID-19 Measures
After imposing some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the country and locking down its capital city for over 200 days, the state Labor government announced schemes to aid economic recovery for struggling businesses to entice people back to the Melbourne CBD.Most Vaccinated State
The state proudly declared on Feb. 22 that it had become the most vaccinated Australian jurisdiction, which comes after Premier Daniel Andrews indicated during lockdowns last year that he would not open the state until the vaccination rate reached 80 percent.The state has delivered more than 5.7 million first doses, 5.3 million second doses and 2.9 million third doses state-wide. On average, 11 vaccines a minute have been administered by Victoria’s state-run services since the COVID-19 vaccination program commenced a year ago.