At 8pm on Sunday, Melbourne broke the record set by Buenos Aires as the global city with the most time spent in lockdown.
It’s been a long couple of years for Melbourne. And now, we now hold the title to “most time spent in lockdown”. The six lockdowns over the past two years have added up to a massive 245 days spent at home, surpassing the Argentinian capital’s 244 days.
Reported yesterday: 1,377 new local cases and 0 cases acquired overseas.
– 30,985 vaccines administered
– 67,789 test results received
– Sadly, 4 people with COVID-19 have diedMore later: https://t.co/OCCFTAchah#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/cj0sVlK2rU
— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) October 3, 2021
Longest Time Spent In Lockdown
1,377 locally acquired cases were acquired in Victoria over the past 24 hours, as Melbourne enters its 246th day in lockdown. Unfortunately, our lockdown won’t end until we hit 70 per cent of double dosed vaccinations. We’re expected to hit this target on October 26, so there’s a few more weeks to go.
Here are the days Melbourne has spent in lockdown so far:
- March 30 to May 12, 2020 — 43 days
- July 8 to October 27, 2020 —111 days
- February 12 – 17, 2021 —5 days
- May 27 – June 10, 2021 — 14 days
- July 15 – July 27, 2021 — 12 days
- August 5 – October 4, 2021 — 61 days and counting
Of course, different cities around the globe have had different definitions of lockdown. While Melbourne’s lockdown at home is certainly the longest, other cities have also had long lengths of coronavirus restrictions.
Toronto, for example, is labelled “the lockdown capital of North America”. They had closed their restaurants to diners for over 360 days.
And while the 5km limit was certainly uncomfortable for Melburnians, those in Ireland briefly faced a harsh 2km limit instead.
Disheartened Melburnians might wonder if lockdown worked, considering the amount of cases we have today. It might be worth looking at the deaths for this one. During the pandemic, 870 people have died in Victoria.
Meanwhile, there have been over 115 thousand deaths in Argentina since the pandemic began. About 16 thousand of those deaths were in Buenos Aires alone.
The Philippines have also bounced in and out of extended lockdowns and localised lockdowns. However, there have been about 38 thousand deaths across the country so far.
The only way out of Melbourne’s lockdown is to get vaccinated. 82.8 per cent of Victorians have had a first dose, and 52.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.
To book an appointment at a state-run vaccination centre, click here.