Coronavirus NSW, Victoria: Graphs reveal progress is being made

Graphs from New South Wales and Victoria show Australia could be winning its battle against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Two graphs tracking the daily number of coronavirus cases in New South Wales and Victoria show we could be winning the battle against coronavirus.

The figures come after comments from federal and state authorities that tough new restrictions introduced nationwide last week – and that have since been upgraded – are proving effective in slowing the outbreak of the potentially deadly disease.

“What we’ve seen is progress, real progress this week,” Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said this morning.

“The rate of increase reducing from above 25 per cent to the low teens on a daily basis. That’s the flattening of the curve we’ve always talked about.”

Mr Hunt said he, along with chief and deputy chief medical officers Brendan Murphy and Paul Kelly and doctors, believed “we are beginning to see some real progress”.

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“These results are telling us what we are doing is working. That’s why we have to go, if we want to beat this, to these agonising and even tougher restrictions,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison echoed a similar sentiment in an address last night.

“We need to continue to do the things that we’ve committed ourselves to do, save lives and save livelihoods,” he said.

The drop in new cases, deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said this afternoon, was probably due to Australia closing its borders.

“That measure we took over two weeks ago is starting to bite and so very few people, Australians, are coming back from overseas now and that is decreasing the number we are getting from that,” he said.

The “agonising and even tougher restrictions” Mr Hunt mentioned come into effect at midnight tonight, and were announced by the PM yesterday.

Indoor and outdoor meetings are now limited to a maximum of two people, with exception to those in your immediate household.

The Government has urged people to stay home and only venture out if they are shopping for essentials, require medical or healthcare needs, have compassionate care duties, are exercising outdoors or need to work or study and are unable to do so from home.

Police in all states and territories will slap individuals or businesses found flouting social distancing rules from 11.59pm with a fine of at least $1000; and fines of up to $62,000 could be handed to returned travellers found breaching self-quarantine rules.

“Please, continue to do what you’re doing, continue to follow these rules, and hopefully these early signs of flattening the curve will mean that we can keep going and get a reduction in the rate of increase every day,” Professor Murphy said last night.

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Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says there are ‘early hopeful signs’ Australia’s virus measures are working. Picture: Mike Bowers/AAP

In Victoria, where Premier Daniel Andrews announced stage three restrictions would come into play tonight, chief medical officer Brett Sutton warned we could see “100,000 cases in a few weeks’ time” if we don’t follow social distancing measures.

But, Dr Sutton said, there had been an improvement in Victoria’s case increase and this was an “improvement”.

“We have to improve to a point where that curve is entirely flat,” he said this morning.

“I think we’re heading in the right direction, but we’re not there yet.”

In NSW, easily the state that’s been worst-hit by the virus so far with close to 2000 confirmed cases of the virus, Premier Gladys Berejiklian and chief medical officer Kerry Chant both expressed hope this morning the new restrictions were proving effective.

“I am reporting we have had 127 cases reported since 8pm on the 27th of March,” Dr Chant said.

“In comparison, we had, on (last) Sunday, announced 174 cases; on Saturday, 212. While it is pleasing we have seen a stabilisation in case numbers, it is important to know that they can vary and jump around day to day, based on testing numbers. While pleased, we need to be cautious and it is the long term trend in that data that is going to be important.”