Five million Victorians will be required to mask up today- or face hefty fines – as the state desperately tries to control its coronavirus outbreak.
The mandatory rule came into effect at midnight across Melbourne and Mitchell shire.
Authorities hope the measure will cut case numbers and help prevent another horror spike like yesterday – when Australia saw its biggest daily increase since the pandemic began, with Victoria recording 484 new cases
New South Wales officials are also closely monitoring clusters there, as the case numbers creep up.
The economic impact of the pandemic will be revealed later this morning when the treasurer releases the mid-year economic update. The budget deficit is reported to blow out to almost 90 billion dollars – the biggest since world war two.
00:00 Victoria – face masks mandatory
2:05 New South Wales – new clusters
4:19 World coronavirus cases – more than 15 million cases
4:46 Peter Doherty Institute interview
8:33 Economic impact – café owner interview
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