Melbourne extends Covid-19 lockdown for a week as coronavirus cluster grows

Melbourne has been the epicenter of Australia’s battle to eliminate Covid-19 and is now in its fourth lockdown since the coronavirus pandemic began. The current cluster originated from a breach in a hotel that was being used to quarantine Australians returning from overseas.

Melbourne’s lockdown will be extended beyond the initial seven days as authorities struggle to contain a Covid-19 cluster that’s grown to 60.

Melbourne extends Covid-19 lockdown for a week as coronavirus cluster grows (Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash)

The current restrictions will remain in place in Melbourne for a further seven days, Victoria state acting Premier James Merlino told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday. The lockdown in the city and the rest of the state started on Friday. Restrictions in regional areas are proposed to begin easing from 11:59pm on Thursday.

The city of 5 million people has been the epicenter of Australia’s battle to eliminate Covid-19 cases within the community, and is now in its fourth lockdown since the pandemic began. The current cluster originated from a breach in a hotel in neighboring South Australia state being used to quarantine Australians returning from overseas.

The outbreak shows the limitations of Australia’s strategy to eliminate the virus from the community through tight border controls. While day-to-day life for most Australians has largely returned to normal this year, cases have sometimes leaked into the community, triggering localized lockdowns and internal travel bans that have caused upheaval to the retail and tourism industries.

Pressure is rising on Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government to relocate quarantine facilities away from hotels in the central business districts of major cities by funding purpose-built facilities in regional areas. He’s also been criticized for a slow rollout of the vaccine program, with about 4.3 million people in the nation of 26 million so far receiving their first jab.

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