Australia’s Brisbane hit with three-day Covid lockdown

Brisbane, Australia’s third most-populous city, will enter a three-day lockdown Monday due to an outbreak of the U.K. strain of the coronavirus.

Residents will only be able to leave their homes for food, exercise, essential work and medical reasons, Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters. Mask wearing in public will be compulsory for people across the state, the premier said, after announcing 4 new local cases. While Australia has come close to eliminating local transmission of the virus by closing its international border to non-residents, occasional cases leak into the community from quarantine hotels where returned overseas travelers must isolate for 14 days. States have imposed several snap lockdowns in recent months to contain clusters, disrupting travel and furthering hurting the tourism industry.