Three-day lockdown

SYDNEY –– Australian authorities announced a snap three-day COVID-19 lockdown in the northern city of Brisbane from yesterday afternoon, as they attempt to stamp out an outbreak of the virulent UK variant of the virus.

About two million people in the city, the country’s third largest and the capital of Queensland state, were required to stay home from 5pm local time except for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping or exercise.

“I know this is a really big call and I know it is really tough,” Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters.

“We have Easter coming up, we have school holidays coming up but let’s do it now and let’s do it right.”

State officials reported four new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases yesterday, taking the cluster of cases linked to the UK variant to seven. The first case in the new cluster was reported on Friday.

Ms Palaszczuk pointed to the success of a snap threeday lockdown in Brisbane in early January after the discovery of a single case of the UK variant.

“That worked very well when we did that last time,” she said.

Snap lockdowns, social distancing rules and speedy contact tracing systems have helped Australia to contain fresh clusters in recent months. It has reported just more than 29,200 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began. Schools in the city will be closed from today, funerals capped at 20 people and weddings limited to 10 people.