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AUSTRALIA’s state of Victoria reported zero cases of locally occurring COVID-19 for the first time in nearly three weeks as the Australian state’s capital Melbourne emerged from a two-week lockdown.
Melbourne came out of lockdown late Thursday (10/6) but some travel and gathering restrictions will remain, including rules that will force the city’s five million residents to stay at home. Victoria’s neighboring states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland are meanwhile on alert for the virus after an infected woman and her husband traveled from Victoria through several rural towns in both states.
The 44-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Queensland and then passing the virus on to her husband.
Cafes, restaurants, service stations and convenience stores in NSW and Queensland have been listed as virus hotspots, although Queensland officials said the couple were likely at the end of a period of infection and at low risk.
NSW, the country’s most populous state, has not reported a case of locally acquired COVID-19 in more than a month, while Queensland last reported a case in late March. Queensland reported no local cases on Friday, while NSW is expected to report its daily number of cases on Friday (6/11).
Australia has fared much better than many other developed countries during the pandemic. The country has recorded just over 30,200 COVID-19 cases and 910 deaths, mostly in Victorian nursing homes. Rapid lockdowns, internal border controls and strict social distancing rules have helped the country cope with the COVID-19 outbreak. [antaranews/photo special]
