MELBOURNE: Australia's Victoria declared a state of disaster on Sunday (Aug 2) and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain the coronavirus.

Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, will move to Stage 4 restrictions until Sep 13 given "unacceptably high" levels of community transmission, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

Starting Sunday night for the next six weeks, the city's residents will face a curfew from 8pm to 5am. They will also not be able to go further than 5km from their home and will be limited to an hour of exercise a day.

Only one person per household will be able to shop for essential items each day, also within the same 5km radius.