Australia

Health officials in Australia's second-largest city said 317 new cases had been reported more than a week after a "hard boundary" around the city closed it off.

The chief health officer for Victoria state, where the city of Melbourne is located, announced 270 new cases Tuesday and warned of hundreds of hospitalizations in the coming weeks.

The premier of Victoria state, Australia's second-most populous, issues a six-week stay-at-home order for Melbourne and closes the border with New South Wales state, effective at midnight local time.

Victoria, whose capital city is Melbourne, has logged 127 cases in the last 24 hours, which accounts for more than 90% of Australia's infections during that period, according to national data.

Tens of thousands of people were expected in major cities across the country as authorities in Sydney, citing COVID-19 concerns, obtained court backing for a ban on a rally there.

In 1988, American mathematician Scott Johnson died after falling off a cliff in Sydney. Police now believe his death was among a number of anti-gay hate crimes that took place over several decades.

In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited a link between pathogens that jump from animals to humans and the traditional Chinese markets that sell live fish, meat and wild animals.

Whole pallets of personal protective equipment have reportedly been stolen from hospitals, and some health care workers have even become targets of violence, a nurses' union says.

Both travel bans will be implemented before the weekend. With few exceptions, all but citizens and residents of the two countries will be turned away at their respective borders.