Six weeks of restrictions.
Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, has imposed an overnight curfew to try and halt the spread of coronavirus cases.
For the next six weeks, Melbourne residents will be subject to an overnight curfew and be banned from travelling more than 5km from their home to go shopping or to exercise, as Victoria tries to get community transmission under control.
The premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, has also declared a state of disaster for Victoria, the first since the state was hit by wildfires earlier this year.
“We can no longer have people simply out and about for no good reason whatsoever,” Andrews said.
“It is not an easy decision to make but it is necessary and that’s why I’ve made it and that’s why police will be out in force and you will be stopped and you will be asked and need to demonstrate that you are lawfully out and you are not breaching that curfew.”
The curfew will apply from 8pm to 5am each night.
During the day, people will only be allowed to leave their homes for essential work, once a day for essential supplies and food, and once for exercise within a 5km radius.
However, there is an exception to the 5km rule if the nearest supermarket is outside of this distance.
Sporting activities have closed down and people are not allowed to exercise in groups of more than two people, even those from the same household.
Visitors are forbidden in other homes but couples are still allowed to visit one another, even if they live outside the 5km zone.
Weddings are also banned from Thursday, except on compassionate grounds.
Victoria continues to report hundreds of new cases each day despite other states in Australia reporting none or very low cases.
The curfew for Melbourne will come into force on Sunday night and continue for six weeks to Sunday, 13 September.
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