Victoria state, Australia’s Covid-19 epicentre, has delayed an expected announcement on the easing of lockdown restrictions due to an outbreak in Melbourne, prompting warnings that residents were at a “financial and mental breaking point”.

State premier Daniel Andrews told a media conference the outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs threatened to push the reopening date of retail and hospitality businesses closer to Nov 1.

Andrews said he decided to wait until test results showed whether all infections in the latest outbreak were linked.