Australia extends COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne for seven days

australia lockdown

A lone woman, wearing a protective face mask, walks across an unusually quiet city centre bridge on the first day of a lockdown as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

SYDNEY — Australian authorities on Wednesday extended a lockdown in Melbourne for another seven days until Aug. 19 as authorities fight to get on top of the highly infectious Delta variant.

“If we were to open, then we would see cases akin to what is happening, tragically, in Sydney right now,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

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