Active coronavirus cases in Melbourne, Victorian council areas

Active infections are falling sharply in many of Melbourne’s hotspots, with one western area now home to 133 fewer people battling coronavirus than a week ago. See the latest numbers where you live.

Active coronavirus cases are falling sharply across most of Melbourne’s north and west hotspot areas, but continue to rise in a handful of southeast municipalities.

There were 12 deaths and 216 new cases announced on Wednesday.

The latest active cases by council area data, last updated on Tuesday, show Mornington Peninsula (67, +3) infections have surged by 36 in the past seven days, while northern neighbour Frankston (95, +6) has had a 25 increase during the same period.

SEE ALL ACTIVE CASES BY COUNCIL AREA BELOW

Not too far away, Casey (355, +9) recorded the highest rise in infections in the state.

Active cases are falling sharply in the north and west, including in hotspots Wyndham (831, -33), Brimbank (750, -34), Whittlesea (482, -25), Maribyrnong (214, -16), Hume (531, -13), Melton (467, -13), Moreland (377, -10) and Melbourne (278, -10).

The table below shows active infections have fallen in these areas since the start of the month.

Only Hobsons Bay (175, +3) recorded a rise in infections.

Regional centres Ballarat (24, -4), Greater Bendigo (44, -3) and Colac Otway (39, -3) also experienced falls, while Greater Geelong (159, +4) and Warrnambool (7, +2) increased again.

Authorities are confident the number of daily new cases will continue to fall further — with some experts expecting them to drop below 100 within two weeks — as the effects of the latest lockdown laws are realised.

The number is now trending consistently lower than it had been in the lead-up to the introduction of stage four restrictions.

The current drop in numbers has been attributed to stage three restrictions and mandatory mask regulations.

Premier Daniel Andrews said there was good cause for people to be hopeful about the future.

“We can’t afford for any sense of complacency to creep in here. We just have to keep pushing forward each and every day,” he said.

“This is a long way from over.”

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said the number of Victorians taken to hospital could potentially decrease in coming weeks.

“We’ve seen a stabilisation in the number of cases, it’s essentially levelled off,” he said.

“I think we will see a levelling off of hospitalisations for community cases in the next couple of weeks and the same for deaths.

Dr Norman Swan has said one of the keys to stop the virus spreading is limiting the movement of Melburnians.

“You could envisage a terrible scenario that they solve the problem in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire but regional Victoria takes off big time,” Dr Swan said.

“And it doesn’t take much to take off.”

Mr Andrews said restrictions would be in place until next year if Victorians didn’t adhere to them and case numbers didn’t decrease.

“It won’t be a 6-week strategy, it will be much, much longer,” he said.

“We will be into 2021 with significant lockdown in place. That’s not acceptable.”

Mr Andrews urged Victorians to think twice about their need to travel.

Rather than large outbreaks, unknown transmissions pose the pandemic’s greatest risk because the sources cannot be placed in isolation, leaving them free to infect swathes of the community.

It is continued growth, of what Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled “mystery cases”, which led to Melbourne’s Stage 4 restrictions.

Mr Andrews announced Stage 4 restrictions on Sunday, August 2, which means no-one can travel any further than 5km of their home to do shopping or physical exercise, and also a curfew making people stay at home from 8pm and 5am.

State 4 restrictions will be in force across metropolitan Melbourne until at least September 13.

While for regional Victorian areas – including Geelong, the Surf Coast and Mitchell Shire – Stage 3 restrictions will be in place from 11:59pm on Wednesday, August 5.

“We must do more. We must go harder. It’s the only way we’ll get to the other side of this.”

Restrictions also include staying at home between curfew hours, only one person per household is allowed to go grocery shopping each day, exercise outside the home is only permitted for one hour per day and within 5km of home.

He said there would be exemptions for people to visit their intimate partners who live apart and also for work.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTORIAN CASES

As of Tuesday the total number of coronavirus cases in Victoria stands at 17,238.

The overall total has increased by 211 due to 11 cases being reclassified largely due to duplication.

The state’s death toll is now 351, an increase of 17 from Monday. Thirteen are linked to known outbreaks in aged care facilities.

There are 2024 active cases related to aged care centres.

There have been 3669 cases indicating unknown transmission, an extra 43 from Monday.

Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said these mystery cases were a concern.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the so-called mystery cases or cases of unknown acquisition,” Prof Sutton said.

Figures released showed people aged between 20 and 29 are the biggest driver of community transmission.

Of the total number of cases, 8263 are men and 8932 women.

There are 657 people in hospital, including 44 patients in intensive care.

There are 7274 known active cases in Victoria — 200 fewer than Monday. There have been 9413 people recover.

Meanwhile the number of healthcare workers with active cases are 1036.

A total of 1,992,725 tests have been processed.

The department follows up and monitors all close contacts of confirmed cases and provides them with information and support. All close contacts must self-isolate for 14 days.

WHAT ABOUT TOTAL CASES?

Wyndham is Victoria’s hotspot when it come to total virus cases, with the western Melbourne area having 1860 confirmed positive tests, over 100 more than Brimbank (1738).

Hume (1439) is next, while Whittlesea (1073), Melton (963), Moreland (893), Melbourne (820), Casey (797) and Moonee Valley (695) all have more than 600 total cases.

HOW DOES VICTORIA COMPARE WITH AUSTRALIA AND THE WORLD?