Map of Australia without Victoria goes viral after Melbourne enters second coronavirus lockdown

Victoria has been brutally cut out off a new map of Australia that’s gone viral online – as Melbourne begins its second coronavirus lockdown.

The state has recorded 289 new cases since Monday, with 36 north Melbourne suburbs have now been locked down to contain the outbreak. 

The lockdown will last for four weeks and came into force from 11.59pm on Wednesday, with locals urged to avoid any non-essential travel.

The map which has been shared almost 1,000 times on Facebook, shows the whole of Australia but an empty space has been left between NSW and Tasmania.

‘Please download the new map of Australia,’ the post read.

Many thought the edited map was hilarious while others slammed the picture as inappropriate.

‘I’ve always wanted this exact picture tattooed on me, think I’ll get it done,’ one person said.

‘Why not get rid of Tassie while we’re at it?’ another joked.

‘Not funny we are stuck with it through no fault of our own,’ one said.

‘How is this funny? People are getting sick,’ someone wrote. 

It comes after the Victorian government re-imposed stay-at-home orders for 36 suburbs in ten postcodes after recording 212 new cases of the deadly virus in three days.

But the virus has already left the embattled city and spread across Australia, with an infected man travelling to Sydney and going to work at a Woolworths in Balmain.

Another infected person spent two weeks in hotel quarantine in Melbourne before travelling to Darwin. 

After just four weeks of freedom, those residents will be banned from leaving their homes except for work and school, food shopping, giving care and daily exercise.

Restaurants, gyms, pubs and all other non-essential services in the suburbs must once again close their doors. Affected businesses will be compensated with a government cash grant of $5,000.  

Residents from the ten postcodes will not be allowed to go on holiday and the government will announce a support package for affected tourism businesses on Friday.

Police will be enforcing the orders with random vehicle checks similar to random breath tests and will dish out on-the-spot fines.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the lockdown was ‘deeply painful’ and ‘damaging for businesses’ but insisted that it was necessary.

‘If we don’t take these steps now we will be locking down every postcode,’ he said. 

In Victoria there are 415 active cases with 20 patients in hospital and four in intensive care.

On Thursday alone, 77 new cases were discovered – the biggest number since the height of the pandemic on March 31. 

Of the 77 new cases, 13 are linked to outbreaks, 37 were detected through routine testing and 27 further cases are under investigation.

Most of the cases are in virus hotspots, according to Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.

‘One of the issues is people do move around a little bit. Obviously now, with the restrictions in force, people should be limiting their movement to the fullest extent possible.’