Coronavirus: Grim new Victorian mark in a deadly month

Victoria has experienced its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic so far, with 25 COVID-19 deaths in the 24 hours to Monday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Victoria has experienced its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic so far, with 25 COVID-19 deaths in the 24 hours to Monday, exceeding the record last Tuesday of 21 deaths.

The latest grim milestone takes to 221 the total of coronavirus deaths in Victoria in the first 17 days of August — exceeding the national death toll of 197 in the first five months of the pandemic, from March to July.

Victoria’s total toll reached 334 on Monday, with all but 20 deaths occurring since July 4. The 25 included a man in his 60s, four women and three men in their 70s, six women and four men in their 80s, and four women and three men in their 90s.

Of the 25, 22 were aged-care residents.

 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it would be a “difficult day” for the families of the most recent 25 people to die. “Our thoughts and prayers, our best wishes, our hearts go out to them. This is really very, very challenging,” he said.

Victoria’s number of active coronavirus cases fell by more than 400 in two days to Monday, in the most certain sign yet that the peak of the second wave has passed.

The number of active cases peaked at 7880 last Tuesday, falling by three on Wednesday, 11 on Thursday and 24 on Friday, rising by 33 on Saturday, then falling by 204 on Sunday and 197 on Monday. The falls are the result of the combined number of recoveries and deaths exceeding the number of new cases each day, with 453 people recovering in the 24 hours to Monday, and 282 new cases. Daily case numbers have fallen from a peak of 725 13 days ago on August 5, when the seven day daily average also peaked at 573.

The seven-day average has continued to fall since, to 467 on August 10 and 322 on Monday — the lowest seven-day daily average since July 21.

The Premier welcomed 282 new cases as “better news”.

“Another sub-300 day is good in terms of that trend and the general movement down towards lower case numbers … but we just can’t allow any sense of complacency to creep in here,” he said.

“This is an ultra marathon, and we just have to keep pushing forward, each and every day.”

There were 15,728 tests processed in Victoria in the 24 hours to Monday, a positive case rate of 1.79 per cent, down from a peak of 3.63 per cent from 723 new cases and 19,921 tests processed on July 30, but up from an August low of 0.95 per cent from 394 cases and 41,416 tests processed on August 9.

There were 657 people in Victorian hospitals with coronavirus on Monday, down from 662 on Sunday. This included 44 people in intensive care, up from 40 on Sunday.

There have now been 3626 cases of coronavirus in Victoria where contact tracers have been unable to identify a source of infection — up 148 since Sunday. This does not include 1058 cases still under investigation.

There were 1064 active cases in healthcare workers on Monday, down 100 from Sunday. The number of active cases in aged care was 1999 across 90 facilities on Monday, down 76 since Sunday. All 31 Melbourne local government areas have at least 41 active cases, as do the regional LGAs of Greater Geelong (155 cases), Greater Bendigo (47) and Colac-Otway (42).