The Australian state of Victoria and the New Zealand city of Auckland will end the temporary snap lockdowns on Thursday.
Authorities in Australia have said they have taken control of a hotel quarantine cluster in Melbourne, which has led to a five-day closure.
New Zealand will lift restrictions imposed on Auckland over the past three days, although there are three new local cases.
Both countries, known for their firm measures, have seen fewer deaths and cases in the midst of the pandemic.
Australia’s Cases
The state of Victoria recently saw a dozen cases of COVID 19 after a Melbourne hotel employee was known of unknowingly catching a different version of the virus that originated in the UK.
No additional locally acquired cases were found on Wednesday. But the state government is now under pressure to explain how the virus escaped hotel quarantine, after similar breaches nationally in recent times.
Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews defended the “short, sharp circuit-breaker”, saying it was protecting the region’s third wave.
“There was no other option but to follow the advice provided,” he said. “I am proud of every Victorian for the work they have done, and for their dedication.”
Impact On Australian Open
Organizers of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne said separately that spectators could attend last week, but only 7,477 people would be allowed in each program which is an average of 50%.
With the reduction of the restrictions six million state citizens are no longer barred from leaving their homes and schools can be reopened. But some curbs often limit visitors to homes and wear mandatory masks in crowded indoor areas.
Prior to the outbreak, Victoria – Australia’s second most populous state – had not seen a local infection in 28 days.
The government had endured two previous locks – including a four-month closure of its capital Melbourne – due to the failure of a hotel quarantine plan.
Mr Andrews emphasised the “hyper-infectious” nature of the UK variant as justification for announcing the lockdown last Friday.
But some experts – including the Australian Medical Association – have been calling for a review of hotel quarantine plans over concerns about air transfers.
Victoria is now considering a purpose-built quarantine facility.
Cases In New Zealand
Earlier this week the city of Auckland entered the three-day lockdown – the first in the country for six months – after a family of three tested positive for Covid-19. At least two of them had the UK variant.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the closure would end as planned at midnight, despite three more cases being detected. They include students from a high school which will remain shut till next week.
“We wanted to make sure we took a cautious approach because that’s much, much better than getting it wrong and having a large scale outbreak and a long lockdown,” she explained.
By the end of the closure, Auckland’s two million residents could return to work and school, and public and tourist facilities could be reopened. But social isolation is still needed and gatherings of more than a hundred people are still banned.
The rest of the country will have curbs loosened further, with no restrictions on movements or gatherings, at midnight.
