Melbourne: The premier of Australia's hot spot Victoria state has urged residents not to panic-buy as he announced reductions in meat productions.
The state capital Melbourne began its first full day of tough lockdown restrictions on Thursday as Victoria posted 471 new COVID-19 infections and eight deaths.
Premier Daniel Andrews says beef, lamb and pork production will be reduced by one third from late Friday because of the virus transmission risks in abattoirs and meat processing plants.
Poultry production will be reduced by 20%.
He says the measures are designed to drive down to the lowest possible numbers of workers, without at the same time delivering a shortage of products.
Andrews says there was no need for shoppers to stockpile, as has occurred spasmodically and to various extents during Melbourne's first and second lockdowns.
He says, “You may not necessarily be able to get exactly the cut of meat that you want, but you will get what you need and you will get all the products that are, basically, fundamentally important to you.''
