Authorities in Australia’s second largest city said the restrictions will take effect on June 4 as they scramble to find new sources of infection.

Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, has imposed restrictions on COVID-19 as authorities scrambled to discover missing links in the new outbreak in the north of the city, which has grown to five.

Family gatherings are limited to five guests, only 30 people can participate in public meetings, and masks must be installed indoors from 6 pm local time on Tuesday (08:00 GMT) to June 4th.

Victorian Acting Prime Minister James Merlino told reporters in Melbourne: “This is a responsible step we must take to deal with this outbreak.”

The most recent case was filed nearly three months after the state reported zero cases.

Victoria is The worst-hit country During the second coronavirus infection last year, it accounted for about 70% of Australia’s total cases and 90% of deaths. Nursing homes were severely affected. Only after one of the longest and most difficult lockdowns in the world did the state bring the epidemic under control.

Melino said on Tuesday that Melbourne had reported a new case acquired locally, and this was the second day after the city had reported four infections.

All five cases involved a large family of different families and were traced through the genome of the virus to a variant found in an overseas traveler who returned to Melbourne early this month after completing quarantine in Adelaide.

However, relevant departments are still studying how these family members contracted the virus from overseas travelers.

The latest case involves a man in his sixties.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted Merino as saying: “The important thing is that he reported that the case was treated symptomatically as soon as symptoms appeared, which means it may be the source of the case.” Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton (Brett) Sutton) stated that the man may be a “missing link.”

Thousands of people have been ordered to self-quarantine and be tested for COVID-19, and health alerts have been issued for multiple locations from public transportation to restaurants and shopping malls.

One of the cases had a high viral load, and he visited some places, prompting the authorities to warn Melbourne’s 5 million residents to prepare for more positive cases in the coming days.

The working hours of COVID-19 testing sites have been extended to cope with the expected increase in demand.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, fast tracking systems, movement restrictions and social distancing have helped Australia contain the COVID-19 epidemic, recording more than 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.