Australia's Victoria extends Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown for 2nd week

SYDNEY:  Australia's Victoria state on Wednesday extended a snap COVID-19 lockdown for a second week in Melbourne in a bid to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious virus strain first detected in India, but will ease some restrictions in other regions.

Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, was plunged into lockdown last Thursday, initially until June 3, after the first locally acquired cases were detected in three months, infections rose steadily and close contacts reached several thousand. "If we let this thing run its course, it will explode," Victoria state Acting Premier James Merlino told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday. "This variant of concern will become uncontrollable and people will die."