one of nine public housing estates locked down due to a spike in
COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in Melbourne on July 6, 2020. –
Australia will effectively seal off the state of Victoria from the
rest of the country, authorities said on July 6, announcing
unprecedented measures to tackle a worrying surge in coronavirus
cases. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Australian officials on Sunday extended a strict
virus lockdown of the country’s second-biggest city by two weeks,
saying new cases had not dropped enough to prevent another
spike.
Melbourne residents were due to exit a harsh six-week lockdown
next weekend but face continued restrictions for months to come,
with Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews saying the current
lockdown would remain in place until September 28.
“If we open up too fast then we have a very high likelihood that
we are not really opening up at all — we are just beginning a third
wave,” he told a press conference.
“And we will be back in and out of restrictions, coming in and
out of lockdown, before the end of the year.”
Just 63 new cases and five deaths were recorded in Victoria on
Sunday, after peaking above 700 at the height of the outbreak, but
health officials are taking a cautious approach.
Hopes of a return to normality this month have been dashed, with
an overnight curfew, restrictions on visitors to homes and a limit
on travelling more than five kilometres (about three miles) set to
remain in place until at least October 26.
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Announcing the roadmap for the easing of restrictions, Andrews
said that rushing to experience a “brief period of sunshine” would
likely lead to the virus again spiralling out of control.
The toughest rules will be eased in Melbourne from September 13,
with an overnight curfew beginning an hour later at 9:00 pm, daily
exercise increased to two hours and small “social bubbles” created
for people living alone.
Under the government’s plan, childcare centres will reopen and
up to five people will be able to gather outdoors from the end of
September — but only if cases fall below an average of 50 per
day.
Rules for people living in regional and rural Victoria will be
relaxed more quickly, due to small numbers of active cases in those
areas.
The announcement comes a day after more than a dozen
anti-lockdown protesters were arrested in Melbourne during clashes
with police.
Hundreds attended the illegal gathering organised online by
conspiracy theorists, labelling the government’s response to the
pandemic overblown or an outright “scam”.
Australia has been relatively successful in containing the
virus, with the country recording just over 26,000 cases and 753
deaths in a population of 25 million.
The vast majority were reported in Melbourne over the past two
months, while other regions have rolled back restrictions after
largely bringing the virus under control.
AFP
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