Virus lockdown in Australia’s second-largest city extended by a week

People exercise in Melbourne on June 1, 2021 on the fifth day of a seven-day lockdown as the city battles with an outbreak of the Indian variant of Covid-19. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — A coronavirus lockdown of Australia’s second-biggest city will be extended by another seven days, authorities announced Wednesday, as they attempt to stamp out a cluster of cases in Melbourne.

“We have right now 60 cases and over 350 exposure sites and a variant of the virus that is quicker and more contagious than we have ever seen before,” said James Merlino, the acting premier of the state of Victoria.

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