3 years ago
The Australian state of Victoria has declared a state of disaster and placed Melbourne, the country’s second biggest city, under nighttime curfew as it grapples with hundreds of “mystery cases” of coronavirus.
As countries around the world including the US, the UK and Spain reimpose varying degrees of lockdowns, the Victorian premier announced that the state had to impose the highest level of restrictions in order to overcome a stubbornly high number of cases that cannot be traced.
Daniel Andrews said that without the tougher, six-week so-called stage 4 lockdown, the state risked having six months of milder stage 3 restrictions that would likely not contain the virus and instead overwhelm the health service.
Under the stage 4 lockdown, no one will be allowed to venture further than 5km from their home; only one person per household per day will be allowed to go shopping; only one hour of exercise will be permitted; and Melbourne faced a curfew from 8pm to 5am.
The state of disaster declaration “means that police and others have additional powers”, Andrews said. “We can suspend various acts of the parliament and make sure that we get the job done and there’s no question about the enforceability and the way in which new rules will operate.”
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, faces a “high alert” as it attempts to contain the coronavirus. Its premier has urged people to wear masks on public transport and while shopping.
