Coronavirus: outbreak delays easing of Melbourne pub rules; India’s daily cases fall
- Melbourne has been locked down for all but a few weeks since March
- India’s daily cases drop to nearly 50,000, maintaining downturn trend
Victoria state, Australia’s Covid-19 hotspot, on Sunday delayed an eagerly awaited announcement of the removal of lockdown restrictions for cafes, restaurants and pubs in the capital Melbourne because of an outbreak in the city’s northern suburbs.
The restrictions have kept most retail businesses in Melbourne providing online services only since early August and 5 million people living under stay-at-home orders were hoping for an announcement on Sunday.
State premier Daniel Andrews told a media conference the outbreak would likely delay the reopening of retail and hospitality businesses by a few days, as officials preferred to wait for hundreds of test results.
He had planned to announce some restrictions would be lifted from midweek but preferred to wait until there was more clarity about whether all known infections and expected positive cases from the tests were linked, Andrews said.
“We will get (the test results) today and tomorrow and hopefully we are able to make, not only announcements but to take the big steps safely around the middle of this week.”