Australia begins strict six-day coronavirus lockdown

One of Australia’s strictest lockdowns began on Thursday with outdoor gatherings, weddings, funerals, takeaway food all coming to a standstill as authorities try to stifle the latest flare-up of the novel coronavirus.

Images on social media showed empty streets in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia state.

The state’s chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, told a news conference there were no new infections to report on Thursday while 3,200 close contacts of the infected were in quarantine.

Authorities have imposed the six-day lockdown to stamp out what the state premier described as a highly contagious outbreak of the coronavirus linked to a traveller who returned from Britain.