Melbourne and some towns in regional Victoria have been ordered back into lockdown for six weeks from midnight on Wednesday after the state recorded 191 new cases of COVID-19.
Schools in affected areas will not reopen their doors again for term three as planned on Monday, with hundreds of thousands of children to go back to distance learning, except for senior secondary students and special schools.
Stage three restrictions will come into effect for metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, which takes in towns including Broadford, Kilmore, Seymour, Tallarook, Pyalong and Wallan, north of the state’s capital.
Residents in those areas will be barred from leaving their homes for any purpose other than work, food, exercise or medical care.
The exact city boundaries will be set out by the Environment Department later on Tuesday afternoon, Premier Daniel Andrews said. The Age