Australia's Victoria COVID-19 cluster swells as officials call next few days “critical”

Australia's second most populous state of Victoria, the epicentre of the country's latest COVID-19 hotspot, reported 11 new cases of community transmission on Monday, taking the current cluster to 51.

Victoria went into a strict seven-day lockdown on Friday after new COVID-19 infections in the state capital Melbourne ended its three-month run of zero community cases.

“The next few days remain critical, and I want to be really clear with everyone that this outbreak may well get worse before it gets better,” Acting Premier James Merlino said.

The swelling numbers have raised questions over whether the lockdown will be extended beyond the seven days announced initially.

Victoria endured one of the world's strictest and longest lockdowns last year to suppress a second wave of COVID-19 that killed more than 800 people in the state, accounting for 90 per cent of Australia's total deaths since the pandemic began.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7897419/australia-victoria-covid-lockdown/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews