SYDNEY, Oct 11, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Elated Sydneysiders defied grey skies and
drizzle to celebrate the end of almost four months of lockdown on Monday,
hoping to put behind them a period of "blood, sweat and no beers" in
Australia's largest city.

  Sydney's more than five million residents have been subjected to a 106-day
lockdown, designed to limit the march of the highly transmissible Delta
variant.

  With new infections now falling -- New South Wales state recorded 496 cases
on Monday -- and more than 70 percent of over-16s double vaccinated, the city
is dusting off the cobwebs.

  Cafes and restaurants threw open their doors to anyone who could prove they
were vaccinated, including 35-year-old Peter Morgan, who was among those
relishing in newly regained freedoms.

  "Even though it's like freezing outside it's so good," he said. "It's just
these little things which offset a lot of the stresses of like being locked
down."

  "The first thing I'm going to do is see my parents. Actually no, not see my
parents. I'm going to go to Lakemba to get a Lebanese mixed plate and then go
see my parents," he said.

  Across the city shaggy haired customers lined up outside hairdressers to
get eyebrow-raising home cuts and dye jobs repaired.

  "I couldn't wait to be in here to get the hair done," said Brett Toelle, a
salon customer in Surry Hills, whose last trim was 15 weeks ago. "That's the
longest time I've ever been without a haircut."

  For many, the end of lockdown was a chance to get into the shops.

  At midnight, hundreds of people poured into a discount Kmart store in the
western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt, with social media images showing long
queues forming inside.

  For others, it was a chance to put their business back on track.

  "It's a great vibe this morning," said Hannah Simmons, owner of Gordon's
Cafe in the beachside suburb of Clovelly whose business survived the lockdown
by offering takeaway.

  "The outside seating will be a little bit dreary but that's OK. We are
really excited to be back there and open. That's great."

  Since June, shops, schools, salons and offices have been closed for non-
essential workers and there have been unprecedented restrictions on personal
freedom.

  There were bans on everything from travelling more than five kilometres
(three miles) from home, visiting family, playing squash, browsing in
supermarkets to attending funerals.

  - 'Blood, sweat and no beers' -

  "Very few countries have taken as stringent or extreme an approach to
managing Covid as Australia," Tim Soutphommasane, an academic and former
Australian race discrimination commissioner, told AFP.

  For most of the pandemic, Australia successfully suppressed infections
through border closures, lockdowns and aggressive testing and tracing.

  But the Delta variant put paid to any dream of "Covid-zero", at least in
the largest cities of Melbourne and Sydney which are now pivoting to "living
with Covid".

  "It's a big day for our state," said New South Wales' recently appointed
conservative premier Dominic Perrottet.

  After "100 days of blood, sweat and no beers," he said, "you've earned it."

  Prime Minister Scott Morrison hailed the day as one to celebrate things
once taken for granted: "Being with family and friends, getting a haircut,
grabbing a meal together, going to the pub and having a beer with your
mates."

  There will still be limits on mass gatherings and international borders and
schools will not fully reopen for a few weeks yet.

  But otherwise daily life is beginning to look more like normal, with crowds
again gathering at bus stops and the hum of traffic growing a little louder.

  Despite the celebratory mood, there are lingering concerns that reopening
will bring a surge in infections.

  The Australian Medical Association pilloried Perrottet when he appeared to
shift the focus away from health and onto the economic recovery.

  "The AMA supports gradual opening up of the economy and the loosening of
restrictions, but it is critical to observe the impact of each step on
transmission and case numbers," the doctors' body said.

  "Otherwise New South Wales may still see hospitals become completely
overwhelmed despite high vaccination rates."