Premier of Australia's Victoria defends hard COVID-19 lockdown

FILE PHOTO: Victoria's State Premier, Daniel Andrews, speaks to the media regarding Thursday's incident involving a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians in Melbourne, Australia December 21, 2017. REUTERS/Luis Ascui

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The premier of Australia's second-most populous state, Victoria, defended on Sunday his decision to put nine public housing towers in a complete lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Melbourne's suburbs.

The state recorded 74 cases new cases on Sunday, after Saturday's 108 cases prompted Premier Daniel Andrews to order about 3,000 people not to leave their homes for at least five days and to place police to guard the buildings.