Australia’s Victoria State Declared Disaster Area Due to Cor
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:20 amAustralia’s southern Victoria state has been placed under a state of disaster as a surge of new coronavirus cases continues to engulf the nation’s second-largest state.
Under the decree announced Sunday by Premier David Andrews, an evening curfew is now in effect from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time for five million residents of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria. Residents will only be allowed to shop and exercise within 5 kilometers of their homes, and only one person per household will be allowed to leave their homes once a day to pick up essential goods. All schools will shut down and switch to remote-based learning. The only exceptions to the rule are for work or to receive medical care.
Medical workers speak at the entrance of the Epping Gardens aged care facility in the Melbourne suburb of Epping on July 29, 2020, as the city battles fresh outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The new restrictions extend Melbourne’s current six-week lockdown for another six weeks. Premier Andrews said Sunday 671 new COVID-19 cases, including seven deaths, had been recorded, bringing its total number to 11,937 and 136 deaths. Victoria is expected to report over 400 cases on Monday.
All of Australia now has a total of 17,938 novel coronavirus cases and 208 deaths.