Melbourne locking down for five days amid surge in cases

Melbourne, Australia, is going into a five-day lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced Thursday that the Australian state along with Melbourne, the country’s second-biggest city, will go into lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, The Associated Press reported.

“You only get one chance to go hard and go fast,” Andrews said, Reuters reported.

Victoria had 18 new cases the past two days after movers from Sydney, which has been in lockdown for weeks, brought the coronavirus with them.

The 6.6 million people will only be allowed to go out to get vaccinated, exercise, for essential work and grocery shopping. 

“If you wait, if you hesitate, if you doubt, then you will always be looking back wishing you had done more earlier. I am not prepared to avoid a five-day lockdown now only to find ourselves in a five-week or a five-month lockdown,” Andrews said.

Sydney recently extended its lockdown until July 30 amid a surge in cases as the country saw its first deaths from the coronavirus this year during the outbreak. 

Only 12 percent of Australia has been fully vaccinated due to supply constraints, Reuters noted.