Melbourne clamps down to curb virus impact

MELBOURNE - Australia’s second-biggest city, Melbourne, already under night curfew, announced fresh restrictions on industries including retail and construction on Monday in a bid to contain a resurgence of the coronavirus.

From Wednesday, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, will close retail, some manufacturing and administrative businesses as part of a sixweek lockdown.

The new measures are expected to double the number of jobs affected by coronavirus restrictions to around 500,000 and along with those working from home will keep 1 million people from moving around for work, Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews said.

Having already imposed the strictest restrictions on movement, Victoria declared a “state of disaster” on Sunday.

Australia has fared better than many countries, with 18,361 coronavirus cases and 221 deaths from a population of 25 million, but the surge in community transmissions in Victoria raised fears that the infection rate could blow out of control.