Ballarat enters snap lockdown due to COVID-19

Ballarat went a week-long lockdown at midnight last night.

Daniel Andrews announced the news on Wednesday.

It comes amid concern about COVID-19 spread in the area.

There have been several wastewater detections of coronavirus and a handful of cases emerge.

It means the City of Ballarat is under the same restrictions as metro Melbourne, aside from a curfew.

In positive news, Greater Shepparton was released from lockdown at midnight.

Restrictions there now fall in line with the rest of regional Victoria (Ballarat aside).

The Premier had previously warned regional Victoria would not be exempt from going back into lockdown, but that the measure would be used in a “more targeted” fashion than it had been previously.

It comes as Victoria recorded 423 new COVID-19 cases.