Australian city ordered into lockdown again as coronavirus cases surge

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Australia’s second-largest city of Melbourne has ordered its five million citizens into lockdown for the second time after recording a record surge of new coronavirus cases.

Residents of the city and several surrounding towns must stay in their homes for six weeks, except for essential reasons such as work, exercise, food shopping and health care, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.

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The announcement comes as Andrews said the state saw 191 more positive cases, the most infections ever recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

"We are on the cusp of something very, very bad if we don't take these steps," Andrews said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “A sense of complacency has crept into us ... each of us knows someone who has not been following the rules as well as they should have."

Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Monday. As Australia is emerging from pandemic restrictions, the Victoria state capital Melbourne is buckling down with more extreme and divisive measures that are causing anger and igniting arguments over who is to blame as the disease spreads again at an alarming rate. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)

Health officials attribute more than half of Victoria's 772 active coronavirus cases to community transmission, the paper reported.

Schools will delay reopening classrooms and continue distance learning during the duration of the lockdown while restaurants will shift to takeout service only, the BBC reported.

Victoria also closed its border to New South Wales, adding military patrols to prevent illegal travel. The last time the two states closed their borders to each other was during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919, Reuters reported.

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Australia has been among the world’s most successful countries in containing its coronavirus outbreak, except for a recent spike in Melbourne. The country has reported more than 8,500 cases and 106 deaths.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.