NewsBite

Victorian capital set for toughest lockdown yet

Updated

Key Points

  • Australia has 17,754 virus cases, 7096 are active, and 208 deaths.
  • Worldwide, there are 17 million cases and over 667,000 deaths.
  • Subscribe to our daily newsletter, Need to know, here.
Advertisement
Go to latest
Pinned post

That's all for Sunday

We're closing up our coronavirus blog for Sunday but will be back Monday morning with our rolling coverage.

Here's a recap of today's key events across Australia and the world.

Victoria Police officers stop motorists leaving metropolitan Melbourne at a checkpoint on the border of Sunbury and Gisborne. The spike in cases in Victoria has seen Premier Daniel Andrews declare a state of disaster. Paul Rovere

  • Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared a "state of disaster" as he announced Melbourne was moving to stage four restrictions from 8pm Sunday night, including daily curfews from 8pm-5am, while the rest of the state would go into a stage three lockdown.

  • The state's aged care outbreak grew to 1053 and six of the seven deaths announced on Sunday were linked to aged care. The state announced 671 of Australia's 687 new cases.

  • With the exception of the children of essential workers, Victorian schools will return to remote learning from Wednesday, while new restrictions for businesses will be announced on Monday.
  • As a result of the Victorian crisis, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has withdrawn support for Clive Palmer's High Court challenge of WA's border ban.
  • The NSW government has "strongly encouraged" face masks in high-risk settings, including supermarkets and public transport, as the state recorded 12 new cases.

  • Queensland recorded one new COVID-19 case on Sunday, while South Australia recorded two new cases and Western Australia one.

  • Mexico surpassed Britain as the country with the third-highest coronavirus death toll, with more than 47,000 deaths, putting it behind only Brazil and the United States since the pandemic began.
1 / 6

Latest In Federal

Fetching latest articles

Sponsored

Most Viewed In Politics

    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/link/follow-20180101-p55ho3