'Freedom Day': Sydney reopens as Australia looks to live with COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: A person in protective face mask walks along the harbour waterfront across from the Sydney Opera House during a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sydney, Australia, October 6, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Sydney's cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation.

Some pubs in Sydney, Australia's largest city, opened at 12:01 a.m. (1301 GMT Sunday) and friends and families huddled together for a midnight beer, television footage and social media images showed.