CANBERRA: About 2 million Australians begun their first full day of a strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday following the discovery of one case in the community in Perth, capital of Western Australia state, but no new cases have since been found.
Authorities ordered a five-day lockdown of Perth after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus.
The state government said 66 people have been deemed close contacts of the unidentified guard and none of those already tested were infected.
“In total 13 close contacts have now tested negative and of those 11 high-risk contacts have been moved into hotel quarantine as an extra precaution,” Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth.
Tests on the rest of the close contacts were expected to be completed on Monday, McGowan said.
Australia has managed to largely contain its novel coronavirus epidemic – limiting cases to nearly 29,000 and…