Coronavirus cases in every council area across Melbourne and Victoria

More than two-thirds of the state’s municipalities now have no active coronavirus cases, with just eight new cases recorded overnight. See the latest list of active and total cases by council area.

In a hopeful sign in Victoria’s battle against coronavirus, the number of municipalities without active cases now stands at 69%.

Stonnington, once the state’s worst coronavirus hotspot, now has no active cases.

The inner-eastern Melbourne municipality has recorded only nine new infections since April 1, when it had 82 cases — more than double the next closest area.

Eight new cases were recorded statewide overnight, including two positive cases in healthcare workers at Kyabram District Health Services. A small number of staff will now self-isolate for 14 days. A case was also recorded in a St Leonard’s College construction worker. The site has been closed for sanitation.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LATEST COVID-19 DATA (AFTER MAY 20) 

Another case was linked to the Cedar Meats outbreak, with the total cases linked to this cluster at 103.

No further cases have been linked to the McDonald’s Fawkner outbreak, with the cluster’s total number of cases remaining at 12.

More than 367,000 tests have now been taken across the state, with public schools to reopen from May 26.

COMPREHENSIVE LIST: WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO NOW

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton, said the state’s battle with the virus was “far from over” despite the relaxing of some restrictions.

“While it is encouraging that we can begin a cautious path to normalcy, this is not an invitation to indulge in potential risky behaviours. We must maintain physical distancing and act in a commonsense way to ensure we don’t create a second wave of this terrible disease, as we have seen in other countries once they have relaxed their stringent regulations,” Prof Sutton said.

WHY COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION CASES ARE KEY

There are now 166 cases that may have been acquired through community transmission.

Cases judged to likely be through community transmission are those contact-tracing investigators can’t find an obvious source for.

Monash University Professor Anton Peleg, The Alfred hospital’s infectious diseases department director said such cases could be coming from a range of sources.

“Given they’re unknown there’s a range of possibilities, possibly from people in the community that have very mild symptoms that are out and about, they either know or don’t know they have COVID-19, so that’s a challenge,” he said.

“This is why our goal is to identify as many people as we possibly can who have COVID-19 including their close contacts.”

Prof Peleg said he “absolutely” supported the need for the federal government’s contact tracing app.

“Despite DHHS trying to work out where people contracted COVID-19 from, it’s still not clear, so it’s important to contact trace from concerned cases and isolate those people,” he said.

>> FULL LIST OF CASES BY MUNICIPALITY:

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTORIAN CASES

The total number of coronavirus cases in Victoria stands at 1580.

The state’s death toll sits at 18, with no new deaths overnight. The state’s last recorded death was on April 28.

Of the total number of cases, 837 are men and 743 women, with ages ranging from babies to their early 90s.

A total of 10 people are in hospital, including five patients in intensive care.

There are 115 active cases, with 1465 people who have recovered.

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.

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Originally published as Coronavirus cases in every council area across Melbourne and Victoria