MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – Australia’s second most-populous state of Victoria recorded 273 new cases of the coronavirus infection and another death on Sunday. This marks a week of three-digit surges in cases, said authorities as they are battling to halt its spread.
Authorities placed Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, under a six-week lockdown on Thursday after a surge in community transmission cases.
“This is a dangerous time,” Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said in a media briefing.
“I know we are asking a lot of Victorians, but we simply have no choice but to acknowledge the reality that we face and to do what must be done, and that is to follow those rules, to only go out when you need to.”
Victoria’s cases on Sunday are the second highest after a record 288 cases were spotted on Friday. The state is home to a quarter of the country’s 25 million people. The spike in the number of confirmed cases is because of increased testing. The state conducts more than 30,000 tests daily.
Cases were reported at some public and private hospitals, aged-care institutions, public housing complexes and supermarkets.
A man in his 70s died of COVID-19 over the weekend, Andrews said. The national death toll stands at 108.
Most primary and secondary school students in Melbourne have to use remote learning facilities until at least Aug. 19. However, students with special needs have been exempted, he said.
Seven other states and territories have banned travellers from Victoria over concern that community transmission was causing a second wave of the virus.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field