Jul 15, 2021 - World

Australia's 2nd-most populous state to lock down after COVID spike

Rebecca Falconer

A pedestrian wearing a mask walks over a bridge along the Yarra River on June 11, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. — A bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, will enter a five-day lockdown just before midnight to combat a growing COVID-19 outbreak, officials announced on Thursday.

Why it matters: It will be the fifth time such restrictions have been imposed on residents in Victoria's state capital, Melbourne — who last year endured one of the world's longest lockdowns (112 days), when the city was Australia's pandemic epicenter.

The big picture: Australia had largely suppressed coronavirus outbreaks, but it's now for the first time in months dealing with outbreaks in multiple regions simultaneously.

This is driven largely by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant — which led to Sydney, New South Wales, entering a full lockdown on June 26. These restrictions in Australia's largest city have been extended until July 30.
Melbourne last exited a lockdown on June 10, though some restrictions remained in place — such as wearing masks outside.

By the numbers: NSW has a total of 929 active cases after 65 more infections were confirmed Thursday; Victoria confirmed seven new cases, taking the total to 18 active cases and the state of Queensland recorded three new infections.

What they're saying: "This will be a hard lockdown similar to or identical to what we did a couple of weeks ago," Victoria's Premier Dan Andrews said at a news conference.

"It is essentially a repeat of the successful strategy from couple of weeks ago. That was successful then and this will be successful now."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with the latest case numbers.

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Australia's 2nd-most populous state to lock down after COVID spike

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