MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia reported a record 502 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, nearly four months after the epidemic initially peaked, with authorities warning the country was entering a critical new phase. Most of the new cases were reported in the southeastern state of Victoria, where authorities have struggled to bring an outbreak in Melbourne under control despite an almost two-week lockdown in Australia’s second-biggest city. Australia’s new coronavirus infections previously peaked on March 28 […]

by Ryan Smith with Robin Millard in Geneva and AFP bureaus MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Millions of people in Australia’s second-biggest city went into lockdown on Thursday to battle another coronavirus outbreak, as the number of infections worldwide surged past 12 million. Caseloads and death tolls have risen relentlessly in many of the world’s biggest nations, with the virus now claiming over 550,000 lives across the planet. In Melbourne, five million people began a new […]

by Ryan Smith MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Five million people in Australia’s second-biggest city began a new lockdown Thursday, returning to tough restrictions just weeks after they ended as Melbourne grapples with a resurgence of coronavirus cases. Residents have been told to stay at home for six weeks after other measures to contain a spike in COVID-19 failed to prevent the virus spreading. The state of Victoria has been effectively sealed off in an effort […]

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s military was called in Wednesday to help tackle a coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne — a surge in infections that has rattled the country’s second-most populous city. Victoria has recorded double-digit increases in new daily cases for more than a week — mostly in the state capital Melbourne — representing a sizeable spike in cases in a country that has otherwise successfully curbed COVID-19. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the federal […]