City streets drain of life in Australia's toughest lockdown
(AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)MELBOURNE Melbournes usually vibrant downtown streets were draining of signs of life on Wednesday on the eve of Australias toughest-ever pandemic restrictions coming into force. The closing down of Australias second-largest city, which usually accounts for a quarter of the nations economic activity, also coincided with frenetic preparation. Many Melbourne businesses in this city of 5 million are not expected to survive the second and harshest lockdown. Melbourne residents were evenly split between those who resented the new impositions and those who wholehearted supported them, she said. Authorities are concerned that many Melbourne residents were ignoring orders to stay home, even when they were infected with the coronavirus.
Australia to shut state border as Melbourne infections surge
Women hold signs outside housing commission apartments under lockdown in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday, July 6, 2020. The border between the states of New South Wales home to Sydney and Victoria home to Melbourne is due to be shut late Tuesday. The infections announced Monday surpassed the first surge of infections in Melbourne that peaked on March 28 at 111 cases recorded in a day. The federal government had previously opposed any internal border closures aimed mostly at stopping spread from Victoria and New South Wales. Of those, 10 had been in hotel quarantine in New South Wales and three in Western AustraliaNew South Wales police will enforce the Victorian border closure.