![Police meet outside a public housing tower, locked down in response to a COVID-19 outbreak, in Melbourne](https://utterbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/a88a769caf9e41ffa1108d5e026cfcc1-640x427.jpeg)
Australia’s coronavirus hot spot state of Victoria on Sunday extended a hard lockdown in its capital Melbourne until Sept. 28, as the infection rate has declined more slowly than hoped. The hard lockdown was ordered on Aug. 2 in response to a second wave of infections, that erupted in Melbourne. Australia’s second most populous state has been the epicenter of a second wave of the novel coronavirus, now accounting for about 75% of the country’s 26,282 cases and 90% of its 753 deaths.