Australia’s chief medical officer Michael Kidd describes ‘agonising’ day as Victoria records 322 new cases, 19 deaths

The chief medical officer has described Victoria’s situation as “agonising” and he has warned Australians to brace for more deaths.

Australia’s chief medical officer has described Victoria’s situation as “agonising” despite the state’s welcome drop in new infections.

Professor Michael Kidd said Monday’s 19 deaths in Victoria was the single deadliest figure in one day across the state and the country, bringing the country’s death toll to 313.

“Only 10 days ago the number of people who died passed 200 and now its passed 300,” he said.

“This is an agonising day for the family members of those 19 people who have lost a loved one today.”

Prof Kidd said the recent decrease of coronavirus cases in Victoria was a positive sign, but warned it was “too early” to be certain about a further drop.

“We need to follow the numbers very closely over the coming week,” he said.

“While it’s heartening to see the declining number of cases being reported each day from Victoria, and we have seen that over the past five days, while we still have hundreds of cases being reported each day, we will continue to have people admitted to hospital and people becoming gravely unwell. And sadly some of those people will die,” he said.

A specialised COVID-19 cleaning team from national cleaning company Cleancorp sterilises the Kids Learning Academy Childcare and Preschool in Busby as NSW records 14 new cases. Picture: Dylan Coker/NCA NewsWire

In the past 24 hours, Victoria has recorded 322 new infections, while there were 14 cases in New South Wales and one in Queensland.

A total of 664 Australians are in hospital, an increase of five since yesterday, with 54 in intensive care and 39 hooked up to ventilators.

More than 4.9 million tests have been carried out across the country, with more than 12,000 having reportedly recovered from the deadly disease.

Prof Kidd warned health authorities were “very concerned” about the growing number of healthcare and aged-care workers becoming infected.

“It is important people have access to the personal protective equipment they need to do their job safely and it is important they also have the access to support from colleagues to ensure they are using the personal protective equipment appropriately,” he said.

The Victorian government will rollout an emotional advertising campaign to get residents to comply with the stage four lockdown.

The new ads unveiled on Monday tell the confronting stories of people who caught the virus, including a middle-aged mother who thought she would die.