Coronavirus: Victoria records 17 deaths, 394 new cases

The number of coronavirus cases in Victoria appears to be stabilising, but that hasn’t stopped it from setting a new record for deaths in one day.

The number of coronavirus cases in Victoria appears to be stabilising, but that hasn’t stopped the state from setting a new record for deaths in one day.

On Sunday morning, Premier Daniel Andrews announced there had been 394 new infections identified in the last 24 hours – the lowest number since July 29.

But he also revealed there had been 17 deaths, two more than the previous record of 15, set on August 5.

Among the victims are two men in their fifties, four men in their seventies, four women in their eighties, two men in their eighties, two women in their nineties and three men in their nineties.

Ten of the 17 are linked to aged care outbreaks.

“To each of those families, we send our sincere condolences, our sympathis, our best wishes,” Mr Andrews said.

“This will be an incredibly difficult time for them and I want them to know they are in our thoughts and prayers, as we continue to do everything we possibly can to deal with this second wave and to get beyond it.”

There are 634 Victorians in hospital, 43 of whom are receiving intensive care. Twenty-six people are on ventilators.

Mr Andrews said there were 2758 cases with an unknown source, an increase of 174 since Saturday.

“That’s 174 of those mystery cases which are, in many respects, our biggest challenge,” he said.

“Even large numbers in known, contained outbreaks are, to a certain extent, less significant than the smaller number of cases where we simply can’t find the circumstance or the point of origin.

“Where did that person get the virus from? They’re the ones that are incredibly challenging from a containment point of view, and that’s what has made fundamentally necessary these really challenging settings, these really difficult decisions we’ve had to make to drive down movement, and therefore, drive down the number of cases.”

There are 994 active cases among healthcare workers, and 1748 active cases connected to aged care settings.