Welcome to Melbourne: World’s most locked down city

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For years, Melbourne has been marketed as “the world’s most livable city”.

Today, it has won another award, overtaking Buenos Aires to be the city experiencing the most days in hard lockdown: 235 days and counting.

Other major cities of note with record days in lockdown include:

  • London (207 days);
  • Prague (201 days);
  • Dakar (169 days);
  • Paris (161 days);
  • Baku (152 days); and
  • La Paz (131 days).
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews stated over the weekend that Melbourne’s hard lockdown would “end on 26 October” once 70% over the adult population is double vaccinated, which would mean Melbourne will have spent 267 days in hard lockdown.

However, the 26 October will only be a partial reopening, with shops, gyms and other indoor activities remaining closed, and schools only returning part-time. A proper reopening is not scheduled to occur until early November when 80% are fully vaccinated.

Thus, Melburnians are still facing around six weeks of lockdown pain.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.