Brisbane to enter third lockdown over 7 cases

(FASTNEWS |  BRISBANE) – The Australian city of Brisbane will enter another snap three-day lockdown to contain a coronavirus outbreak which has grown to seven cases.

The Queensland state capital – home to over two million residents – will begin the lockdown at 17:00 Monday local time (06:00 GMT).

In January, the city also shut down for three days due to a single case.

The city has seen very few locally acquired cases since Australia’s first wave of the virus a year ago.

The Brisbane outbreak, first reported on Saturday, marks the first cluster of community transmissions in Australia in almost a month.

Health officials are yet to determine how the virus leaked into the community, but say it is potentially linked to a hospital doctor who was infectious two weeks ago.

After the lockdown was announced, locals rushed to shops to stock up on goods despite officials urging this was unnecessary.

Video online also showed plane passengers in Sydney scrambling to disembark a flight bound for Brisbane after learning of the announcement.