Coronavirus: Victoria's death toll skyrockets
Victoria has announced a record 59 new coronavirus deaths while the state’s daily infections have dropped below 100 again.
The daily death toll, which is the nation’s highest since the pandemic began, includes a further reconciliation of deaths from aged care, with 50 not in the previous 24 hours.
When 41 deaths were announced on Monday, 33 of them were from several weeks prior to August 27.
While earlier this week Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said there would be further outdated deaths to confirm, he suggested they would not be on the same scale as Monday’s total.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the additional 50 deaths occurred in July and August.
Daily cases drop back under 100
The DHHS reported 81 new cases on Friday, ending a two-day streak of rising daily infections.
It follows 113 cases and 15 deaths on Thursday, and 90 cases and six deaths on Wednesday. Victoria’s coronavirus death toll is now 650.
Professor Sutton said Victoria was now in the “stubborn tail of the epidemic curve”.
There were 25,031 tests processed in the previous 24 hours, a sharp rise after several days of lower totals which had causes concern for the state government.
Premier Daniel Andrews is set to reveal his government’s plans to exit restrictions across Victoria on Sunday.
Professor Sutton had earlier stated he hoped Victoria would be down to 40 daily cases by Sunday.
More to come.
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