Australia’s most populous city on Monday exited more than three months of lockdown. “It really is an essential service," Rabinowitz said as he sat in his barber’s chair. “This is the most important thing for the day." New South Wales state had been one of the world’s most prominent success stories in containing Covid-19, before it fell under some of its strictest stay-at-home orders as an outbreak of the delta variant hit in June.
Residents of the state, who have received both doses of the covid vaccine, on Monday were allowed to again start visiting non-essential retail stores, pubs and gyms, with capacity limits.