Today marks Victoria’s lowest daily increase of coronavirus cases in the last 12 days as the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported 322 cases of COVID-19 overnight.
Despite the decrease in case numbers today marks the state’s deadliest day, with 19 new deaths as the state’s total death toll rises to 228.
The daily figures were announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) over Twitter this morning for the first time, which is where the numbers will be released from today onwards.
There were 322 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours. Sadly, there were 19 deaths reported #Covid19VicData pic.twitter.com/TINmAA7DBI
— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) August 9, 2020
The deaths include one male in his 50s, one female in her 60s, two males in their 70s, one male and six females in their 80s, and one male and seven females in their 90s.
Of these deaths, 14 were linked to aged-care outbreaks.
Australia’s death toll has now passed 300, with 314 people passing away due to COVID-19. 228 of these deaths were in Victoria.
Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday that the quick decision to announce stage four restrictions and compulsory face masks has saved the state more cases and lives.
“We’ve avoided many tens of thousands of cases and therefore death rates that would have been substantially higher,” he said.
While the decrease in daily cases is surprising, Andrews warns us to not take it for granted.
“But, I’m always very hesitant to try and take one days data and turn it into a trend,” he said.
Photo: Free road image by Yassine Khalfalli available HERE and used under a Creative Commons Attribution. The image has not been modified.
