A development that should worry us all.
Melbourne, the second most populous city in Australia, has officially gone back into a state of lockdown after cases of Covid-19 surged in the region.
Much like the measures taken at the beginning of the crisis in Ireland, residents of Melbourne will now be forced to stay at home unless undertaking essential activities such as buying food or visiting the doctor. All non-essential businesses will close to the public once again, and school will remain suspended.
The state of Victoria accounted for 191 of the 199 cases recorded in Australia yesterday, and the new lockdown will take effect from midnight on Wednesday.
Announcing the new measures, premier of the state Daniel Andrews said: “You should be scared of this. I’m scared of this. We all should be.
“Yesterday, we reached a grim new milestone, the most cases in a single day. Today, we surpassed it.
“It’s clear we are on the cusp of our second wave – and we cannot let this virus cut through our communities. For every restriction that you break and all the health advice that you ignore – the consequence may be someone’s life.”
Statement from the Premier on Stay at Home restrictions for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. pic.twitter.com/7tc3esHZnH
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) July 7, 2020
The example is certainly relevant to Ireland following a weekend in which many seemed to ignore social distancing guidelines. Globally, at least 535,000 people have died due to Covid-19 – with Ireland’s official death toll standing at 1,741.
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