Borders set to shut as Victoria locks down again

Australian aviation’s domestic revival faces its first major test today as Victoria announced a seven-day lockdown with state borders likely to shut in response. The ‘circuit breaker’ restrictions come after the state’s new COVID cluster grew to 26, with 12 new “linked cases” emerging in the 24 hours until midnight. Acting Premier James Merlino appeared to blame the federal government’s handling of hotel quarantine for contributing to the situation. It came after Labor’s federal leader, Anthony Albanese, tweeted this morning that, “Outbreaks will keep happening if Scott Morrison doesn’t fix quarantine”. Victoria’s list of exposure sites has now grown to 150, with one of the active cases revealed to be in ICU on a ventilator. Already, 10,000 primary or secondary contacts have been asked to either quarantine or test and isolate in response. Merlino said the latest cluster was a “highly infectious strain” that was spreading “faster than we have ever recorded”. Already, 29 flights have been cancelled at Melbourne Airport, with more likely to follow. WA quickly followed by closing its state border, in a move that will come into effect at 10am local time. New Zealand earlier this week paused the trans-Tasman bubble to Victoria for at least 72 hours, with that now almost certain to be extended today.<br/>