Melbourne lockdown returns as Australia sees new spike in Covid cases

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Louise Thomas

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Australia’s second most populous state Victoria has been locked down for the fourth time affecting millions of residents of the capital Melbourne as a fresh Covid outbreak is “running faster than ever recorded”.

The seven-day "circuit breaker" lockdown will begin at midnight on Thursday with Victorians only allowed to be out for five reasons, including shopping for food, vaccination and medical assistance.

Acting Victoria premierJames Merlino called for lockdown as infection cases doubled to 26 in just 24 hours and the number of exposure sites in the state soared to 150.

"In the last day, we’ve seen more evidence that we’re dealing with a highly infectious strain of the virus, a variant of concern which is running faster than we have ever recorded," Mr Merlino said.

He said the surge is led by highly contagious B.1.617 variant, which was first found in India and labeled as “variant of concern” by the UK and WHO.

“The usual transmission is about five to six days. In some of these cases, within a day it’s being transmitted,” Mr Merlino said. “The number of cases has doubled in 24 hours. Unless something drastic happens, this will become increasingly uncontrollable.”

The announcement triggered panic buying amid people and families reached state’s borders to cross the state to avoid lockdown restrictions, reported 9News.

At least 10,000 primary and secondary contacts have been identified who will be either required to quarantine for 14 days, or test and isolate until negative.

One elderly man with Covid infection is in ICU and on a ventilator, he said.

The authorities are on the brink of getting overwhelmed to track down thousands of contacts of those who tested positive of virus.

Visuals from the supermarkets of state showed empty shelves and people complaining of stores running out of toilet papers as people resorted to panic buying supplies.

Mr Melino said there is “absolutely no reason to panic buy” as movement would not be restricted under five reasons which are: authorised work or permitted education; exercise; care giving; and medical reasons, including to get vaccinated.

The state authorities also expanded the Covid vaccination for those aged 40 and above. The age group between 40-49 will be given Pfizer while those above 50 will still be offered AstraZeneca.

Soon after the announcement, the hotline used to book a Covid jabs crashed after an influx of calls earlier Thursday.

“The vaccine rollout has been slower than we have hoped,” Mr Merlino acknowledged.

Some of the western Australian states and Tasmania on Thursday shut their borders for residents of Victoria following South Australia’s move a day earlier. Queensland and the Northern Territory will require travellers coming to their states to undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine.

The lockdown reminded people of one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns imposed in Victoria to break the second wave of Covid infection that killed more than 800 people alone in the state and accounted for 90 per cent total deaths of the country.

The swift and most controversial measures have led to the country seeing just 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.