Australia's Victoria state reports four COVID-19 cases, source unknown

FILE PHOTO: An essential worker walks past a 'Please Stay Home' sign on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, February 13, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's second most populous state of Victoria reported on Monday four new COVID-19 infections, all in the city of Melbourne, the first cases of community transmission in the state in nearly three months.

The new infections have raised alarm amid a slow take-up of vaccinations in Australia and as other countries in the region, including Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, have seen cases increase into the hundreds or thousands in the past few weeks.