Australia Fights to Keep UK Strain at Bay

Police officers patrol and check for entry permits to Victoria at a border checkpoint in Mallacoota, Australia on Dec. 29, 2020. Diego Fedele/Getty Images

As highly infectious mutant strains of COVID-19 spread globally, Australia is fighting hard to keep them at bay.

Victoria, NSW and the Northern Territory all revealed positive cases of the virulent UK strain in hotel quarantine on January 9, while Brisbane and surrounding communities were in lockdown because of one locally acquired UK strain case.