World

BREAKING: Australia To Close Victoria Border With New South Wales

On Wednesday Australia’s two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria will close their border in a bid to counter a huge jump in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne.

Reports from Australia indicate the outbreak in Victoria’s capital equates to 95% of all new Australian infections.

It us understood that only special permit holders will be able to cross the state border from Wednesday.

The closure is a combined decision by the leaders of both states, and the nation’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but there has been no announcement yet on when the border might reopen.

Nationwide Australia has seen 8,600 cases of the coronavirus with 106 deaths.

134 new cases were reported on Monday, with 127 of these in Victoria – the highest single day’s increase in the state since the pandemic began – but with 20,000 tests being carried out daily in the state local authorities hope to get the latest spike under control in the near future.

As part of the process a total of 45 apartment blocks and suburbs in and around Melbourne have been put on lockdown with varying levels of movement for those affected.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.