Australia's biggest states ease more COVID-19 curbs ahead of border reopening

FILE PHOTO: A woman takes a test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a testing centre in Sydney, Australia, January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Singing and dancing will resume in nightclubs in Sydney and Melbourne from Friday, while most mandatory check-ins have been scrapped as officials lifted nearly all COVID-19 curbs in Australia's biggest cities amid a steady fall in hospital cases.

The relaxation in social distancing rules comes ahead of the full reopening of Australia's international borders on Monday after nearly two years, boosting business confidence battered by stop-start lockdowns.