(AFP) — Australian officials on Sunday extended a strict virus lockdown of the country’s second-biggest city by two weeks, saying new cases had not dropped enough to prevent another spike.
Melbourne residents were due to exit a harsh six-week lockdown next weekend but face continued restrictions for months to come, with Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews saying the current lockdown would remain in place until September 28th.
“If we open up too fast then we have a very high likelihood that we are not really opening up at all — we are just beginning a third wave,” he told a press conference.
“And we will be back in and out of restrictions, coming in and out of lockdown, before the end of the year.”
Just 63 new cases and five deaths were recorded in Victoria on Sunday, after peaking above 700 at the height of the outbreak, but health officials are taking a cautious approach.