Melbourne back in lockdown
Australia’s second-largest city has entered another lockdown, with officials fearful a cluster of cases could have exposed hundreds of residents.
The state of Victoria imposed the new lockdown on Melbourne after a dozen new local cases on Thursday.
There are now 26 cases in the cluster and those infected are known to have visited dozens of locations before testing positive.
"We’re dealing with a highly infectious strain of the virus, a variant of concern, which is running faster than we have ever recorded," said Victoria’s acting Premier, James Merlino.
"We’ve seen overseas how difficult that movement can be to control… Unless something drastic happens, this will become increasingly uncontrollable."
Additional vaccine doses are being sent to Victoria, as residents have rushed to get vaccinated.
Western Australia and South Australia have started restricting travel into Victoria and New Zealand has postponed direct flights to Melbourne under the quarantine-free travel bubble.
Residents are only allowed out to shop for essential items or to go to work if it cannot be performed at home.
The source of the latest outbreak is thought to be a traveller from India who was diagnosed positive only after leaving a quarantine hotel.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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