‘State of disaster’ declared as Melbourne placed under night curfew
THE government of the Australian state of Victoria declared an official “state of disaster” and imposed new lockdown restrictions yesterday afternoon.
As of last night, Melbourne was under a stage-four lockdown. The city has a nighttime curfew between 8pm and 5am in a bid to crack down on illegal gatherings.
Exceptions to the curfew will be granted only on medical grounds, or for care-giving activities.
The rest of Victoria will be under stage-three restrictions from Thursday. Mitchell Shire, north of Melbourne, was already under a stage-three lockdown and will remain so.
The new restrictions will last until mid-September for the entire state, and were announced by Daniel Andrews, the state premier, after another tough 24 hours for Victoria, with 671 new cases of Covid-19 and seven more deaths from the virus. Six of the seven deaths were linked to outbreaks in care homes – where there have been 1,083 known cases.
Mr Andrews told a media conference that there had been an “unacceptably high” number of community transmission cases, and the state also had 760 active infections for which the source of the transmission was not known.
Victoria has lost 123 people to Covid-19, well over half of the entire nation’s death toll, and there are currently 385 people in Victorian hospitals with virus, 38 of whom are in intensive care.
The five million residents of Melbourne will now be allowed only to shop for food and necessary supplies within 5km of their home – or the nearest available supermarket. Only one person will be able to shop from each household, and they will be limited to one shopping trip per day.
Exercise will be limited to one hour per day, also within 5km of home. Residents will not be allowed to have visitors in their home, but couples will still be allowed to visit each other. From Thursday, weddings will be banned except on compassionate grounds, and organised sport will not be allowed – including golf and fishing.
Mr Andrews said Victoria police will be out “in force”, stopping and questioning people who are outside their houses during the curfew hours.
Previously, they could not enter people’s homes without permission or a warrant, or in the company of an authorised officer. Under the official state of disaster, police officers can be appointed ‘authorised officers’ and enter homes without a warrant, to enforce self-isolation orders and other restrictions.
Yesterday, Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, noted that Melbourne’s 25 lowest-income postcodes had more than half the Covid-19 cases in Victoria.
Mr Andrews previously pointed out that 80pc of cases in Victoria had been linked to workplace transmission, and that people desperate to work were going in even if they suspected they were ill. (© Daily Telegraph, London)