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MELBOURNE: Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, entered a five-day lockdown on Saturday (February 13) as authorities scrambled to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 cases triggered by the UK variant, highly infectious.
A new locally acquired case was confirmed in the past 24 hours, Victoria health authorities said on Saturday, bringing the number of active cases in the state to 20.
“A lot of people will be suffering today. This is not the position the Victorians wanted to be in, but I cannot have a situation where in two weeks, we look back and wish we had made these decisions now,” Victoria Premier. Daniel Andrews told reporters on Saturday.
An essential worker walks past a ‘Please stay home’ sign on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia , February 13, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
Andrews said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had agreed to halt all international flights to Melbourne until Wednesday, after five en-route, carrying about 100 passengers, landed on Saturday.
The group that triggered the renewed restrictions came from a quarantined hotel at Melbourne Airport.
The streets of downtown Melbourne, the state capital, and its suburbs were nearly empty early Saturday morning, and people were ordered to stay home for all but essential shopping, two hours of outdoor exercise, beware or work that cannot be done from home.
A man walks past a ‘Please stay home’ sign on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, February 13, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
Among the “essential” work, play continued at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis event of the year that runs until February 21, but fans were banned until Wednesday. Thousands of people were forced to leave the games before midnight on Friday.
The shutdown, which has closed restaurants and cafes for all but take-out, hit just as Melbourne was gearing up for the biggest weekend in nearly a year, with Lunar New Year celebrations, Valentine’s Day and crowds of the New York Open. Australia.
Melbourne last year endured a 111-day lockdown, one of the tightest and longest in the world at the time, to halt a coronavirus outbreak that killed more than 800 people.
“It’s the busiest weekend of the year for us. I’m sitting here making 178 heartbreaking phone calls to see if I can get them rebooked,” said Will Baa, owner of Lover, a restaurant in the trendy Windsor district.
Victoria Police Protective Services officers speak to a man on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, on February 13, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
A man walks down an empty city street on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, on February 13, 2021 REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
“It is quite destructive to the soul. But we are resilient. We just cross our fingers that it only extends for a short period of five days,” he said.
More broadly, Australia is among the world’s most successful countries in fighting the pandemic, largely due to decisive blockades and borders closed to all but a trickle of travelers. With a population of 25 million, there have been around 22,200 community cases and 909 deaths.
New Zealand reported a death of a COVID-19 patient on Saturday. The person had been taken to the hospital from quarantine for an unrelated condition and later tested positive. That case has yet to be included in the country’s total of 25 COVID-19 deaths.
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