Coronavirus: Victoria's daily cases hit stunning new milestone
Victoria has recorded zero new coronavirus cases a day after Premier Daniel Andrews delayed a lifting of restrictions to ensure the state has successfully curtailed the spread of infection in northern Melbourne.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced the state’s first day of zero cases since June 9 on Monday and follows two consecutive days of seven cases over the weekend.
There were also zero deaths in the previous 24 hours.
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day rolling average has plummeted to 3.6 while mystery cases over a two-week period have fallen to seven.
It is the biggest fall in the rolling average in nearly three weeks.
Monday’s statistics will come as welcome news to Melbourne’s hospitality and retail sectors who had been preparing for a lifting of restrictions this week, only for the premier to temporarily pause that decision over concerns of a cluster that has grown to 39 cases over 11 households.
Testing chief Jeroen Weimar said earlier on ABC Breakfast Monday’s figures were “really positive” and health authorities were ensuring Melbourne was ready to take a substantial step.
“If we're about to take off from the runway, if there's an amber light flashing on the dashboard, I would rather that we made sure that we knew what was going on before we committed to take-off,” he said.
“We've asked for a few extra hours to go and do that work over yesterday and today and that work is well on track.”
All eyes will now be on Mr Andrews when he faces the media later on Monday as pressure to reopen, led by the federal government, continues to mount.
Family say they were given all clear by DHHS
The family at the centre of Melbourne's coronavirus cluster is frustrated with health authorities, saying there had been mixed messages about when people could leave isolation.
A family member says the Department of Health and Human Services cleared the family to leave isolation two days before a child attended school while infectious, sparking the outbreak.
The family, which has asked not to be named, told The Age that the boy was not warned he should stay isolated and shared an email correspondence that showed a DHHS employee saying the “family has met the DHHS’s criteria to end isolation”.
The DHHS has been contacted for comment.
with AAP
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