Coronavirus Victoria: No new cases, no deaths, 14-day average falls

Victoria has recorded another double doughnut day with zero new coronavirus cases and no deaths for the sixth straight day.

Victoria has delivered a maiden over of zero coronavirus infection days.

The state recorded its sixth straight day of zero new coronavirus cases and no deaths on Thursday as Victorians look forward to an anticipated further easing of restrictions on Sunday.

The 14-day rolling average for metropolitan Melbourne remains well below the safe threshold of five, falling from 1.7 to 1.4 overnight.

The number of cases from an unknown source remained steady at two.

The last positive cases of coronavirus in Victoria were on Friday when four infections were recorded, with no new infections reported on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Victoria hasn’t recorded six or more consecutive days of zero new COVID-19 cases since between February 1 and 21.

Premier Daniel Andrews said while it was always good to have a zero case day, health authorities were not building a strategy that was predicated on achieving zero every day.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the strategy was not to have zero cases every day. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

“We’re not looking to have zero cases forever,” he said.

“It’s always good to have a day of zero, but the key point here is the numbers are low, they are manageable.

“There will be more virus out there. That’s why it’s so important if anyone’s got any symptoms whatsoever, the only thing to do is get tested and get tested quickly, stay at home and wait for your result, 99 per cent are within 24 hours.

“That means we can wrap a response around you, care for you, protect you and also make sure that you’re not giving it to anybody else. That’s how we keep the numbers low.”

The Premier said the Frankston, Chadstone, Kilmore, Shepparton and northern suburbs clusters had shown Victoria had the contact tracing and public health response capability to shut down outbreaks quickly.

“We’re not building a strategy that’s predicated on zero, every single day. We can’t have cases we can have outbreaks,” Mr Andrews said.

There are now just 20 active cases in Victoria as of Thursday, all confined to metropolitan Melbourne.

There are no active cases in regional Victoria and the state’s death toll stands at 819.

The “ring of steel” separating Melbourne and regional Victoria expected to be removed on Sunday, as well as the 25km travel limit in the city.

Victoria has recorded 20,345 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 19,496 people having recovered as of Wednesday.

More details on Thursday’s infections is expected later at the state government’s media conference.

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