Australia’s Victoria state on Wednesday said the daily rise in infections in its coronavirus hot spot of Melbourne has eased further, putting it on course to relax an extended hard lockdown in the city by the end of the month. Average cases over the last two weeks in Melbourne, the state’s largest city, fell below 50, health authorities said, the benchmark the state set to start easing curbs. Construction sites, manufacturing plants, warehouses and childcare facilities can reopen, allowing more than 100,000 workers to return to their jobs, if the 14-day rolling average is under 50 cases as of Sept. 28. However, people will still be limited to moving around in a 5 kilometre (3 mile) radius around home and only allowed outside for two hours a day for exercise, with a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. “We have to see this through. We absolutely do. Because if we get ourselves in a situation where frustration gets the better of us…then we can open, but we won’t stay open for very long,” Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. The state has set a much tougher target of a 14-day average of five cases for lifting the nightly curfew and reopening more businesses in Melbourne from Oct 26. Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, reported eight deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and 42 new cases, down from highs above 700 in early August. With the drop in cases, the state this week is lifting most restrictions in regional areas outside Melbourne.