The state of Victoria hit a new milestone on Aug. 19, with its residents spending 200 days under lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. The lockdown has taken a mental and commercial toll on the state. “The frustration and the fatigue is showing,” Tony Bartone, the former president of the Australian Medical Association president told the Today on Aug. 18. “It is a really precarious time, and the next week or so will dictate that,” he said. “We have seen a stubborn bunch of days with 20-plus cases and almost half of those cases infectious in the community. Authorities in Victoria have extended the state’s sixth lockdown by another two weeks after the initial lockdown—which began on Aug. 4—failed to quash an emergence of COVID-19 infections. Victorian Opposition State Member of Parliament James Newsbury has also pointed to the rising mental health toll from the lockdowns. “Today, …