Australia's Cultural Capital Melbourne Goes Quiet Under COVID-19 Lockdown

The city of Melbourne has long attracted Australians with big dreams, drawn to find like-minded people and the chance to be part of the country's most highly regarded music, food and art scenes.

From its progressive suburban enclaves to graffiti-sprawled urban alleyways, Melbourne has for decades acted as both the Los Angeles and New York of Australia.

Now every night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., residents are forced into their homes, with only essential and emergency workers permitted to be outside, in what is Australia's first ever blanket curfew of a major city.

It follows a mass outbreak of COVID-19 in the metropolitan, which since late June has steadily racked up to over 7,500 active cases, peaking on Wednesday with 725 new infections and 15 deaths.

The iconic Flinders Street Station during a COVID-19 curfew in Melbourne, Australia, Aug. 3, 2020. (Photo by Bai Xue/Xinhua)

Of course, being Australian, the other concern for many people is the presence of sport in their lives, and thankfully for Melbourne, which is also the unofficial home of Australian Rules Football, people could still tune in to watch a game from home.

While none of the teams were able to play in Melbourne due to the virus, games were beamed in from interstate, offering at least one integral thread of the cultural fabric of the city -- and a taste of normality in the world.

"As a family we can all sit down and watch the footy, so that's been really good," Meyn said. "If we didn't have the footy that would be a disaster."