Thousands of Melb residents locked down in 'prison-like' conditions

Residents in nine of Melbourne’s public housing towers forced into a full lockdown have described their living conditions as being prison-like. Premier Daniel Andrews placed 3,000 residents in a five-day mandatory lockdown at the weekend as fears mount over a potential explosive outbreak of the coronavirus in densely populated high-rise buildings in Flemington and North Melbourne. The Premier faced criticism for the move as he was accused of taking away personal freedoms as locked down residents were instructed not to leave the premises, with police guarding exit and entry points in the buildings. A number of the social houses forced into lockdown did not record any cases of the virus before being closed off. Mr Andrews defended his decision, saying “this is not about punishment, this is about protection”. “We cannot have a cohort of people, many of whom – in poor health to start with, we can’t have this virus spread.” Residents unable to attend work due to the lockdown will be offered a $1,500 hardship payment with the unemployed offered about $700 while rent payments will be waived for two weeks. Victoria recorded 74 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hour period with 53 of those unaware of the source of their infection.
 https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/police-guarding-3000-residents
 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-04/victoria-coronavirus
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