Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane was in its first day of a snap lockdown today, with officials elsewhere on "high alert" over the emergence of more contagious strains of Covid-19.
The usually bustling shopping strip in the city centre was eerily quiet Saturday, with only a small number of masked locals venturing out for essential reasons after officials announced a three-day lockdown from yesterday evening. "Quite surreal, like something from a movie set," local man Scott told AFP, in an empty city street. "It's necessary - hopefully we will get through the next few days without any cases, that will allow us just to start to get back to normal." Highways into the city - which is usually a popular destination for Australian