Australia's Victoria reports slight rise in local COVID-19 cases

FILE PHOTO: A lone passenger wearing a protective face mask walks from a deserted train platform at Flinders Street during morning commute hours as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Victoria state on Thursday reported a slight rise in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 as 5 million residents of Melbourne, the state capital, prepare to enter a second week of a hard lockdown.

A total of 21 new locally acquired cases were detected in the state, up from 20 a day earlier.

Authorities extended a lockdown in Melbourne for another seven days until Aug. 19 to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

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