Australia's capital Canberra has been ordered into a seven-day lockdown after a single Covid-19 case was detected in the city that has largely avoided virus restrictions, reports AFP.

About 400,000 people in the nation's political hub will be under stay-at-home orders from 5:00pm local time, joining millions more already under lockdown in Australia's southeast.

“This is the most serious public health risk that we are faced in the territory this year. Really, since the beginning of the pandemic,” Australian Capital Territory chief minister Andrew Barr said.

Canberra has not been in lockdown since a nationwide shutdown in the early stages of the pandemic in 2020.