The Australian state of Victoria was ordered into a five-day lockdown on Thursday following a spike in Covid-19 infections, joining Sydney as the country's two main population hubs battle an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.<br /><br />From midnight, the state of 6.6 million people was told to stay home except for grocery shopping, essential work, exercise, healthcare and getting vaccinated. The lockdown in Australia's second-largest city of Melbourne is its fifth since the pandemic began a year and a half ago.<br /><br />Combined with a stay-home order already in force in Sydney, the measure means nearly half Australia's 25 million population is under lockdown.
