Following the lifting of a four months old coronavirus lockdown in Sydney, Australia, residents trooped out en masse on Monday to celebrate.
Sydney’s more than five million residents were subjected to a 106-day lockdown, designed to limit the march of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
With a steady decline in infections— New South Wales state recorded 496 cases on Monday — and more than 70 percent of over-16s fully vaccinated, the city is gradually overcoming the virus.
Elated Sydneysiders shared their excitement with newsmen. One of them included 32-year-old Garth Diemer and his team of high-spirited construction workers who were making the most of a rain day.
“We knew the pubs were going to be open about 10 am ’cause it’s Freedom Day, so I thought I’d take the blokes down for a couple of schooners,” he told AFP.
“I’ll tell you what, mate, it is bloody beautiful just to have a beer right in the middle of the heart of Sydney, at the Circular Quay and have a beer with your mates. I’m over this lockdown.”
Cafe-goer Peter Morgan, 35, was also relishing his newly regained freedoms.
“Even though it’s like freezing outside, it’s so good,” he said.
