Victorians are waking up to the toughest lockdown measures in the country this morning with thousands of businesses shut down and permits now required to travel across the city or send children to child care. Restrictions on Melbourne businesses came into effect at midnight after Victoria recorded Australia's worst day yet of the coronavirus pandemic — 725 new cases and 15 further deaths.
New South Wales is bringing in tougher measures to control travel from Victoria forcing anyone who arrived from the state into hotel quarantine for 14 days from midnight tonight. There are continued cases of people trying to sneak into the state with a 27-year-old man allegedly in a stolen ute, the latest to be charged. Meanwhile, Queensland will close its borders to all New South Wales and the ACT from 1:00 in the morning on Saturday.
Lebanon's government has announced a two-week state of emergency in Beirut as the search continues for survivors of yesterday's massive explosion. The death toll from the blast has risen to at least 135. The explosion happened in a warehouse storing nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Officials in charge of storage and security in Beirut's ports have been placed under house arrest while an investigation is carried out.
And investigations are underway after a police shooting in Brisbane overnight in which an officer was stabbed in the face. Police say they were serving documents at a house in Mount Gravatt in the city's south when a man in his 20s stabbed the officer. The officer's partner then shot the man a number of times. He underwent surgery overnight and the policeman is being treated for serious injuries to his face.