Australia's coronavirus hot spot reports zero cases for first time since June

Australia's coronavirus hot spot of Victoria on Monday reported zero cases of the new coronavirus for the first time since June, a day after the state delayed the easing of restrictions because of a fresh outbreak in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The 5 million residents of Melbourne, Victoria's state capital, have been placed under a hard lockdown since July to contain the spread of the virus, shutting down businesses and restricting people's movements.

The city was just emerging from a second wave after the lockdown helped bring down daily cases to single digits in recent days from a peak of 700 in early August. But clusters in five suburbs had sparked fears of a new outbreak.

Australia has so far recorded just over 27,500 COVID-19 infections, far fewer than many other developed countries.

Victoria, which accounts for more than 90% of the 905 deaths nationally, did not record any new deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours.