5mn Australians brace for lockdowns as PM Morrison wants to slow down number of residents returning from overseas

Five million Australians face a heavy police clampdown from midnight on Wednesday to contain a flare-up of coronavirus cases. Checkpoints are being set up around Melbourne to ensure people stay at home.

Police said they would conduct random checks of vehicles on major roads surrounding the country’s second most populous city, as partial lockdowns are reinstated for six weeks to stem a surge in infections. Melburnians will be allowed to leave home only for essential business. Cafes, bars, restaurants and gyms will shut again, Reuters reports.

The renewed lockdown follows the closure of the border between Victoria and Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, on Tuesday night.

PM Scott Morrison said he would take a proposal to a national cabinet of state and territory leaders on Friday, seeking to slow down the number of Australian citizens and permanent residents returning home from overseas.