From Wednesday night, Melbourne will close retail, some manufacturing and administrative businesses as part of a six week lockdown which is expected to hit 250,000 jobs, roughly the number already impacted.
The state of Victoria declared a “state of emergency” on Sunday due to a surge in community transmissions.
Australia has fared better than many countries, with 18,361 coronavirus cases and 221 deaths, but now risks losing control of the virus in Victoria state which has imposed the country’s harshest movement restrictions to date. Neighbouring states of New South Wales and South Australia have also stepped up precautions.
“As heart-breaking as it is to close down places of employment… that is what we have to do in order to stop the spread of this wildly infectious virus,” Victoria’s state premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference. “Otherwise we are not in for six weeks of restrictions we’ll be in for a six-month stint.”
