Faizel Patel – 09/07/2020

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)

Photo: Global Legal Post

Radio Islam’s Asia Pacific correspondent says strict lockdown measures reimposed in Australia’s second largest city to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 infections spreading across the country is extremely serious and should serve as a lesson to all countries across the globe including South Africa.

Residents in Melbourne will no longer be allowed to leave their homes unless it’s for grocery shopping, caregiving, exercise or work in line with the lockdown regulations.

The measures, which are expected to remain in place for six weeks, come as the state of Victoria saw another record rise in daily coronavirus cases, with 191 new infections.

Asia Pacific Correspondent Kiru Naidoo says the Australian government’s decision to reimpose the new lockdown measures is an indication that the COVID19 crisis is mounting, not only in that country, but also globally.

“Australia is one of those countries that has managed this pandemic extremely well. But I think that this second lockdown in Melbourne should be a signal to the rest of the world including those of us in South Africa that the pandemic knows no bounds and the severity is on the rise all the time.”

Naidoo says while the  COVID-19 cases and deaths in Melbourne are low compared to the rest of the world, the Australian government has reimposed  the lockdown as a preventative measure.

“The signals that are coming from Brazil, the United States, United Kingdom in particular, if those numbers are anything to go by, then Australia is in for the high jump. So it’s a preventative measure. I think not dissimilar to the extreme measures that we took in the early days of the lockdown and so we’ve been able to control the spread even though the numbers we are seeing in our country are horrendous.”

Naidoo also touched on news about the clamp down on political activity in Hong Kong now extended to students including and FBI director Christopher Wray calling China the US’ biggest threat.

Listen to the Asia-Pacific report with Kiru Naidoo.