Victoria, Australia enters another "circuit-breaker” lockdown for seven days as its Covid-19 outbreak grows to 26 cases and leaves one person fighting for life.
Victoria’s government is expected to announce a lockdown today any moment as 12 new COVID-19 cases emerged overnight. Health officials had been alarmed at the speed in which case numbers are rising.
Sources of ABC, the state broadcaster, said it would last for at least seven days. Other reports speculate that a five-day circuit lockdown will be held, similar to the one in February when the hotel quarantine had infected 13 people.
Victoria last entered a five-day ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown in February, when the virus escaped hotel quarantine and infected 13 people.
The announcement is set to be made at 10.30am or 11am the morning as ministers thrash out the final details of the lockdown, and at this time it is unclear if the restrictions apply to the whole state or just Melbourne.
Cafes and restaurants will only be able to offer takeaway. Childcare and kinder will stay open but schools will close, except for a small cohort of students. The lockdown is set to end at 11.59pm on June 3, though Merlino said it could end earlier.
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Acting Premier James Merlino. He said he had faith in the state s contact tracing team but the virus was running faster than we have ever recorded . There are now more than 10,000 primary and secondary contacts of positive cases as well as 150 exposure sites, including the MCG, Marvel Stadium and bars in Prahran and South Yarra.