Melbourne (AFP)

The confinement of Melbourne, Australia's second city, was extended by two weeks on Monday and will be accompanied by a curfew, authorities said, trying to stem an outbreak of Covid-19 due to the Delta variant.

Melbourne's more than five million people will not be allowed to leave their homes between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. from Monday, except for people working in sectors deemed essential.

Victoria Prime Minister Dan Andrews said he was forced to take the step following a large number of rallies over the weekend.

"We have seen a lot of people flout the rules, not doing what they should be doing," he said, saying Melbourne is at "a turning point" in the fight against the epidemic.

Mr Andrews said the lockdown, which came into effect on August 5, will be extended until September 2, to prevent the city from being in the same situation as Sydney, where the situation is still not under control. .

More than 8 million people in New South Wales, including Sydney, have been confined for almost two months.

More than 8,200 cases and 56 deaths have been recorded in this state since the start of this epidemic resurgence due to the Delta variant in mid-June.

A deserted street in Melbourne's Chinatown where residents are confined, August 12, 2021 in Australia William WEST AFP / Archives

A three-day lockdown of Darwin, a city of 150,000 inhabitants in the Northern Territory, was ordered after a man tested positive for Covid-19.

Canberra will remain contained until September 2.

The repeated and prolonged lockdowns of many cities on the huge island-continent anger many residents as authorities intend to pursue their "zero Covid" goal until vaccination rates reach 70% or more.

Slow at first, the vaccination campaign has accelerated in recent weeks and a quarter of Australians are now fully vaccinated.

People line up outside a Covid-19 vaccination center on August 16, 2021 in Sydney, Australia DAVID GRAY AFP

Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has recorded more than 39,000 cases of Covid-19 and 966 deaths in a population of 25 million.

© 2021 AFP