Melbourne Takes the World's Lockdown Crown

As far as records go, it's unlikely that many Melbourne residents will boast about this one. As of Sunday night, that Australian city's residents have been under lockdown for a total of 245 days—longer than any other city on the planet. Australia's ABC reports Melbourne took the crown from Buenos Aires, which spent 234 days in lockdown between March 20 and November 11, 2020, and then another 10-day span from May 21 to 31 of this year. By ABC's count, this is Melbourne's sixth lockdown, with the previous five lasting 43, 111, 5, 14, and 12 days.

The most recent lockdown that started Aug. 5 isn't set to end until Oct. 26, meaning the city should end up at a total of 267 days—that's 45% of the days that have followed since the pandemic was declared in mid-March 2020, reports the Guardian. It notes that the successive waves of lockdowns have achieved the aim of getting case counts to zero, though the approach "has left the city feeling economically and psychologically depressed." In this sixth lockdown, zero-COVID isn't the goal; rather, the goal is to get Melbourne's Victoria state to a 70% vaccination rate, which is projected to happen on the 26th. (More COVID-19 stories.)