Australian state makes masks compulsory as COVID-19 spreads

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s coronavirus hot spot, Victoria state, will make wearing masks compulsory after reporting a record 723 new cases on Thursday, mostly among the vulnerable residents of aged care homes.

Masks have been compulsory for the past week in the state capital, Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city with 5 million people, and a neighboring semi-rural district.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said masks or similar face coverings will become compulsory across the state starting late Sunday.

Residents around the city of Geelong will not be allowed to have visitors in their homes from late Thursday in a second measure aimed at slowing the spread of the virus from the city.

“We have low (COVID-19) numbers in regional Victoria and we want to jealously guard that,” Andrews said.

Melbourne and neighboring Mitchell Shire are half way through a six-week lockdown, which Andrews said could be extended. Health authorities had expected the infection rate would have plateaued by now.

“Every Victorian, I think, deep down knows and appreciates that unless everyone plays their part, this lockdown will not end any time soon,” Andrews said.

“If we were to reopen across metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire today, then it won’t be 700 cases a day -- you can add a zero to that and our hospitals will be overrun and we will be conducting more funerals,” he said.

Melbourne is an increasingly alarming anomaly in Australia, which has all but eliminated community transmission elsewhere.

The 723 new cases, mostly in Melbourne, exceeded the previous record of 532 cases on Monday. Victoria also set a daily record of 13 deaths, 10 of them in the beleaguered aged care sector.

Andrews described aged care as a “big, big challenge.” Military...