VICTORIA LOCKDOWN
SYDNEY/MELBOURNE: Lockdown measures were yesterday reimposed in Australia's secondbiggest city, confining Melbourne residents to their homes unless undertaking essential business for six weeks, as officials scrambled to contain a Covid19 outbreak.
The decision, which affects around 4.9 million people, was announced just hours before the busy border between Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, and New South Wales was scheduled to close for the first time in a century overnight.
From midnight tonight, everyone in Melbourne will be required to stay home unless travelling to work, studying, shopping for food or attending medical appointments. Restaurants, cafes and bars will be able to provide takeaway service only, gyms and hair salons must close, household gatherings are limited to two people and the school holiday extended.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the restrictions were onerous but necessary.
``I would, with the greatest of respect, put it to you, getting this virus and dying from it is very onerous, too,'' he said in a televised media conference.
Victoria was responsible for 191 of the 199 new cases reported nationally in Australia yesterday, the biggest oneday rise since early April. The spike has worried officials, even though the national total of almost 8800 cases and 106 deaths was far below many other countries.
Andrews had over the weekend reinstated strict socialdistancing orders in more than 30 Melbourne suburbs and put nine public housing towers into complete lockdown.
Hundreds of police officers and army troops were being deployed to enforce the closure of Victoria's border with New South Wales from midnight last night.
The state line is highly porous, stretching hundreds of kilometres. It is heavily used daily by commuters, school children and road freight.
People caught crossing the border without permission via any of the 55 roads, or several river and wilderness crossings, would face penalties including a fine of $A11,000 ($NZ11,700) and six months’ imprisonment. A second region in Victoria which is home to 44,000 people, will face lockdown restrictions similar to Melbourne. — Reuters