Australia is deploying disaster-relief teams to nursing homes in Melbourne overwhelmed by a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths, officials said.
The stepped-up response came as Victoria state, which includes Melbourne, reported another 295 cases of coronavirus and nine more deaths in the worst outbreak to hit the country since the pandemic began.
Seven of the deaths were in Melbourne nursing homes, which have recorded more than 800 infections among residents and staff in the past few weeks.
At one of the worst-hit facilities, Epping Gardens, health workers assisted residents on stretchers to waiting ambulances for transfer to hospital.