Coronavirus latest: Australia suffers deadliest day of pandemic so far; New Zealand warns of second wave

Name: Melbourne enacts citywide curfew as Australia continues to battle spike in coronavirus cases
Uploaded: 2020-08-05T04:34:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 12 s
Description: Melbourne enacts citywide curfew as Australia continues to battle spike in coronavirus cases

Australia’s worst-hit state of Victoria reported a record daily 725 new cases and 15 deaths

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A man wearing a mask walks in a Melbourne park. Photo: AP

Agencies

Published: 12:34pm, 5 Aug 2020Updated: 6:27pm, 5 Aug 2020

Australia’s worst-hit state of Victoria reported 15 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, including a man in his 30s, making it the country’s deadliest day of the pandemic to date.

An outbreak in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city and the capital of Victoria, has seen hundreds of new cases recorded daily in recent weeks, including 725 on Wednesday.

The epidemic surge continued even though Melbourne has been under a stay-at-home lockdown for nearly a month.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told a press conference that the latest fatalities included one man in his 30s and 12 other deaths linked to care homes for the elderly.

The virus has spread rapidly through nursing homes in the city, with almost 1,500 active infections now linked to the facilities.

Authorities imposed an overnight curfew in Melbourne from Monday, have closed non-essential businesses and ordered mandatory mask-wearing as authorities try to bring the outbreak under control.

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Melbourne enacts citywide curfew as Australia continues to battle spike in coronavirus cases