"On Planes Without Masks, COVID-19 Cases Counted Every Friday" Australia Accelerates Return to Normal Life

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Australia, a country in the Southern Hemisphere, appears to be accelerating its return to normal life by significantly easing COVID-19 prevention measures. The mandate to wear masks on flights has been lifted, and daily COVID-19 reports will be changed to weekly reports.

According to Australia's ABC on the 10th (local time), Mark Butler, Australia's Minister of Health, issued a statement saying, "We are ending the daily COVID-19 situation reports that were released every day." The daily situation reports contained records of daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Instead, weekly situation reports will be released every Friday going forward. Additionally, the mask mandate on domestic flights within Australia and international flights arriving in Australia has been lifted. The self-isolation period for confirmed cases has also been reduced from 7 days to 5 days. Minister Butler explained, "This measure has the support of the Chief Health Officers. Although the reports will switch to weekly, they will include more content such as trend-based analysis and antiviral medication usage."

This move is interpreted as a response to the recent easing of the COVID-19 wave in Australia. Earlier this year, Australia saw a surge in daily cases exceeding 150,000 due to the spread of the Omicron variant. In July, the spread of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, combined with a shortage of medical personnel, pushed daily hospitalizations and deaths to nearly record highs, exceeding 5,000 and 100 respectively.

However, as winter passed, the wave has shown a declining trend. There are even forecasts that the pandemic triggered by the spread of Omicron subvariants may have reached its peak earlier than expected. Minister Butler said, "We quietly hope that the peak arrives earlier than we anticipated. In some states, the number of confirmed cases has started to peak and may even be clearly declining. Fortunately, hospitalizations are decreasing."

Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Health in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), also said, "As winter passes, daily reports have reached a stage where they are no longer as important. Weekly reports will still provide information on the level of COVID-19 and its impact on our society."

On July 13th (local time), passengers are boarding the subway at South Station in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, South Africa officially stopped its daily COVID-19 reports, which had been ongoing since 2020. According to The Citizen on the 2nd of last month, Foster Mohale, spokesperson for South Africa's Department of Health, stated, "The COVID-19 wave has eased and the number of confirmed cases has decreased." He added, "Instead, we will release weekly COVID-19 surveillance data and closely monitor the situation." He also noted that the COVID-19 situation is not completely over and added that vaccinations can still be administered at designated locations such as some healthcare facilities.

On the 7th, New York State lifted the mask mandate for public transportation. Governor Kathy Hochul said at a press conference, "Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have significantly decreased. Our lives must now return to normal." As a result, 15 million residents living in New York City and nearby areas can now ride the subway and buses operated by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) without masks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.