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Victoria achieves 'incredible' coronavirus milestone

Victoria has recorded no new coronavirus cases for the first time since the pandemic began, but authorities are warning the risk is not over ahead of a protest in Melbourne today.

One person with COVID-19 at Saturday's Black Lives Matter rally could be all it takes to squander the gains made, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has warned.

A Facebook event page for the Melbourne protest shows 20,000 people have clicked ‘attend’ while another 25,000 people say they are ‘interested’.

There have been no new cases confirmed since Friday, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed on Saturday morning.

There were no new cases of COVID-19 recorded ahead of rallies planned for the weekend in Victoria. Source: AAP
There were no new cases of COVID-19 recorded ahead of rallies planned for the weekend in Victoria. Source: AAP

"We've been able to achieve this through Victorians doing an incredible job of keeping themselves & each other safe," she tweeted.

"The public health advice is that the risk is not over yet so it's up to all of us to keep it up."

Prof Sutton says people should stay home over the Queen's Birthday long weekend unless absolutely necessary.

Organisers of the Melbourne CBD protest, Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, are resolute in their plans to show solidarity for the US Black Lives Matter movement and call for an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed the good news to Twitter, but said the risk was not over. Source: AAP
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed the good news to Twitter, but said the risk was not over. Source: AAP

They have urged participants to wear a face mask, use hand sanitiser and stand in groups of 20 and 1.5m apart.

But Premier Daniel Andrews' message is "don't go".

There are 178 COVID-19 cases acquired through unknown transmission in the state.

Seven people are in hospital, with one in intensive care. So far, 1,586 people have recovered and 19 people have died in Victoria.

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