Melbourne enters third total lockdown after infections linked to UK variant

The measures come into force at midnight on Friday

The city’s tennis tournament will proceed without spectators (REUTERS)

Melbourne will enter its third lockdown, Victoria’s premier announced on Friday after a cluster of coronavirus cases of the UK variant were detected at a quarantine hotel.

The snap lockdown, which covers the whole state, will last for five days, shutting the doors on spectators for much of the Australia Open tennis tournament beginning today.

All 13 infections detected at the Melbourne hotel were linked to the highly transmissible variant first detected in Kent.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced the lockdown for the state beginning at midnight on Friday, calling it a “short, sharp circuit breaker” banning public gatherings, home auctions, weddings and religious gatherings.

“We must assume that there are further cases in the community than we have positive results for, and that it is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country over the course of these last 12 months,” Andrews told reporters.

Victorians will only be permitted to leave their homes for four reasons: shopping for essential items, essential work, exercise for two hours a day, or caregiving for compassionate reasons. Masks are also compulsory outside the home and a 5km radius ban has been imposed on movement.

The lockdown will also affect one of the biggest events in the country’s sports calendar. The Australia Open, which runs to 21 February, had been planned to go ahead with 50 per cent of usual capacity. Now, it will proceed without crowds over the next five days with no spectators allowed at the match sites. Fans will be able to attend games scheduled on Friday, while spectators can claim refunds for the other days.

All states and territories, other than New South Wales - Australia’s most populous state, which includes Sydney - sealed their borders to Victoria on Friday due to the high risk of contagion.

New South Wales said it will keep its borders open while following the situation closely. The state on Friday recorded 26 days with 0 community cases.

Business expressed dismay with the latest lockdown, calling for the state’s quarantine system to be improved.

“This is the second lockdown caused by Victoria’s hotel quarantine system, it must not be as long and destructive as the last,” Business Council Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said. “We must get hotel quarantine working properly.”

She described it as a “bitter disappointment for the whole community”.

Victoria went through one of the world’s most stringent lockdowns last year after an outbreak that killed more than 800 in the state. The majority of the country’s deaths were located in the state, with Australia recording a total of 909 coronavirus deaths in total.

Australia’s response to the pandemic has been considered one of the most effective in the world, largely due to decisive lockdowns and borders largely kept closed.