Travellers were still waiting in line to cross the NSW-Victorian border, on Wednesday, hours after it was locked down to try to curb Victoria’s coronavirus surge.

On Wednesday night, millions of people across Melbourne and one regional Victorian shire will return to a stage-three lockdown as authorities take drastic measures to quell the spread of the deadly virus across the city.

Last Sunday, thousands of people in nine public housing towers had already been forced into a hard lock down. That followed the return of movement restrictions for nearly 400,000 people in 10 city postcodes identified as COVID hotspots.

Victorians ignoring social distancing are considered largely to blame for the spike, according to experts – who warn a similar surge could easily happen in other states and territories.