The Australian state of Victoria is in lockdown for five days. The authorities hope in this way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “You only get one chance to go in hard and fast,” state premier Daniel Andrews said.

“If you wait, if you hesitate or if you doubt, you will always look back and wish you had done more at an earlier point.”

Major cities such as Melbourne are located in the state. More than 6 million people live there. They will soon have to stay home again unless they have a valid reason to leave their home. For example, residents are still allowed to leave the house to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or if they have an essential profession.

The lockdown will start at midnight. That means that about half of the 25 million Australians will be in lockdown. Similar measures are also in force in the metropolis of Sydney in the state of New South Wales. There, authorities are trying to control an outbreak of the contagious Delta variant.

The outbreak in Victoria is linked to a group of movers from Sydney. They delivered furniture in the city of Hume, north of Melbourne. Since then, eighteen infections have been reported in the state. According to the authorities, the movers are not very helpful. For example, cooperation with contact investigators is challenging, and it would now also be clear that they have not adhered to corona rules.

Australia kept the coronavirus largely out of the door last year by closing its borders. As a result, the country has reported more than 31,000 corona infections and fewer than 1,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. However, vaccination is difficult, and the country is therefore vulnerable now that the Delta variant is spreading.