Starting at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, residents of metropolitan Melbourne will no longer be allowed to leave their homes unless they are destined to buy groceries, care, exercise or work, Victoria Prime Minister Andrews Andrews announced on Tuesday.
The measures, which are expected to take effect for six weeks, come at a time when the state of Victoria has recorded another record increase in daily coronavirus cases, with 191 new infections recorded on Tuesday. The state reported its previous high state of 127 new cases on Monday.
“We know we are on top of something very, very bad if we don’t achieve this,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday, describing the rise in the number of cases for unsustainable cases.
“I think a sense of comfort entered us as we let our frustrations improve. I think everyone knows someone who hasn’t followed the rules the way they should. I think every one of us knows that we have no choice so we take very difficult steps,” he said. is Andrews.
Boundary boundaries will also be applied to the Melbourne and Mitchell Shire metropolitan area, a regional area of Victoria, on Wednesday night to limit the spread of the epidemic across the state, Andrews said.
“We talked about this virus being like a public health shooting. By putting a ring around metropolitan Melbourne, we are basically setting a perimeter to protect regional Victorians,” he said in a statement.
“Clearly we are at the peak of our second wave and we cannot allow this virus to break through our communities.”
Under the new locking measures, cafes and restaurants that were allowed to reopen a few weeks ago will only return for pickup and delivery. Beauty and personal services will be closed, as well as cultural and entertainment venues.
Schools will extend their vacation for another week, but high school students and special school students will return to school as planned on Monday.
“None of us wanted to be here, but we have to face the reality of our situation. If we do anything else, it would have deadly consequences,” Andrews said.
Of the 191 new cases uncovered on Tuesday, 13 arrived from nine public housing estates under “heavy locking.”
About 3,000 residents in the densely populated towers were suddenly placed under total closure on Saturday night, with no reason to leave their homes. So far, a total of 69 cases have been discovered on these properties, and the authorities aim to test each individual resident.
“The strategy here is to complete testing and then as soon as possible, after testing is complete, to move those nine towers to the same foundation that the rest of Melbourne will move to tomorrow at 11:59 a.m. tomorrow – stay- at home with four reasons to leave “Andrews said.
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