Coronavirus Victoria: Daily cases drop to new Stage 4 low
Victoria’s daily coronavirus infections have dropped below 40 again, with the state recording its lowest increase since the peak of the second wave.
The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed 35 new cases and seven more deaths on Monday.
It follows 41 new cases and seven deaths on Sunday, and 37 cases and six deaths on Saturday.
The state’s death toll now stands at 730.
Stage 4 restrictions ease
Melbourne has taken its first tentative steps towards emerging from lockdown after the overnight easing of some COVID-19 restrictions.
From Monday, people living alone or single parents will be allowed to have one other visitor as part of a "social bubble".
Outdoor exercise is extended to two hours split over a maximum of two sessions, allowing social interaction with one other person or household members.
Playgrounds and outdoor fitness equipment will reopen and the nightly curfew will start an hour later at 9pm before finishing at 5am.
The 14-day case average for Melbourne sits at 56.9 before Monday’s numbers, inching closer to the sub-50 target.
Melbourne will move to the "second step", including increased limits for public gatherings and a staged return to school for some students from September 28 if the average falls between 30 and 50.
"If you project forward 14 days, you would expect the 14 day rolling average to the end of September would be absolutely no more than 48," Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said.
"It is more likely to be between 20 and 30, I would hope."
with AAP
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