Australia's Victoria state has declared a 'state disaster' as its outbreak shows no signs of abating three weeks after capital Melbourne was placed under lockdown. With the region posting 671 new cases, seven deaths on Sunday, state Premier Daniel Andrews declared a state of disaster from Sunday, giving police added powers. Metropolitan Melbourne would be under a curfew limiting movement between 8 pm to 5 am. The new restrictions will be in force for six weeks.
Andrews said it was “not acceptable” to face the state each day and report the numbers of residents who had died. “We need to come down on this hard,” he said. He said the number of mystery cases that couldn't be traced to a known outbreak had risen to an “unacceptably high” level that could not be continued.
This is Australia's second lockdown, with the first lasting roughly from March to May. It was one of the most successful in the world, bringing down cases to just a handful a day nationwide. However, security failures at quarantine hotels for returning travellers and poor communication of critical information to migrant communities allowed the virus to come back in Victoria.
