Coronavirus latest: Melbourne shuts non-essential businesses; Vietnam races to avoid major outbreak
- The state of Victoria has imposed a nightly curfew for the capital and will shut down large parts of its retail and manufacturing sectors for six weeks
- The ‘early August period’ is a decisive time to tamp down the outbreak that began in Da Nang, Vietnam PM says
Premier Daniel Andrews also announced on Monday that construction firms must radically reduce the number of workers on site across the city. Production at meat works across the state will be cut by a third, but essential services such as banks, supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations will remain open, he said.
“As heartbreaking 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,” Andrews told a news conference. “Otherwise we are not in for six weeks of restrictions we’ll be in for a six-month stint.”
The restrictions come a day after Victoria’s government declared a state of disaster after the outbreak showed no signs of abating three weeks after Melbourne’s 5 million residents were ordered to stay home except for work, medical care, provisions or exercise.
The lockdown will now cover all of Australia’s second-most populous state, and residents of the city will be under curfew between 8pm and 5am. Those new restrictions will be in force for six weeks. Schools will move to remote learning from Wednesday.
Andrews told reporters the state recorded 429 new cases and 13 more deaths in past 24 hours.
Few people were out and about in the city centre on Monday morning, and traffic volumes thinned to half of what were already light flows, with police being given powers to ensure people are complying with public health directions.