Victoria imposes curfew, state of disaster to contain COVID-19

Melbourne: The Australian state of Victoria is further tightening a strict lockdown in Melbourne, revealing plans to completely shut all non-essential shops and drastically scale back activities in major sectors such as construction.

In an announcement that will effectively shutter the economy in Australia’s second-largest city, Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, said on Monday he was forced to impose “radical” measures for the next six weeks but admitted the impact on household incomes would be severe.

“These are heartbreaking decisions but there is simply no choice,” he told reporters.

“I know that there will be substantial pain… There is no choice but to do that damage to fix the health problem.”

The plans were announced just a day after the state instituted tough new restrictions in Melbourne, including an 8pm to 5am curfew that began on Sunday night and will continue for six weeks.

Mr Andrews revealed that all shops will be forced to close from the end of Wednesday, except for those that provide crucial services such as supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations, banks and post offices. Liquor stores have also been deemed crucial.