Fire Services Victoria members write each other’s names on their hazmat suits as they prepare to enter a public housing tower, locked down in response to an outbreak of COVID-19, in Melbourne, Australia, Jul 8, 2020.
SYDNEY: Australia reported on Monday (Sep 21) its smallest daily increase in new coronavirus infections in more than three months, but authorities in the nation’s virus hotspot of Victoria said they could not hasten the easing of curbs.
The 16 new infections are Australia’s smallest daily jump since Jun 14, while two additional deaths were reported.
“This light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer every day,” Nick Coatsworth, the chief deputy medical officer told reporters in Canberra.
The bulk of the new cases once again came from southeastern Victoria state, the epicentre of Australia’s second wave of infections, where 11 people tested positive over the last day, down from a daily record of 725 in early August.
The two-week average rise in cases in Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, dropped below 35 on Monday, on track to meet a target of below 50 cases by Sep 28 when the authorities have said they may relax restrictions in the city.
“It’s welcome news for Victorians and welcome news for Australians,” Coatsworth told the Australian Broadcasting Corp television on Monday.
However, Coatsworth urged the state’s residents to strictly adhere to the social distancing rules despite cases slowing down significantly in recent days.
“When Victorians come out of restrictions, particularly in Melbourne, the complacency has to be avoided,” he said.
Victoria premier Daniel Andrews, however, said it was too soon to hasten the timetable for removing curbs.
“If circumstances change, if we find ourselves ahead of schedule, not for one day, but in a manifest sense, common sense always guides us,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.
Nightly curfews are among the measures clamped on the city in one of the world’s toughest lockdowns, but state officials have said building sites, manufacturing plants, warehouses and childcare facilities can reopen on Sep 28 if the two-week average keeps below 50.
The bulk of Victoria’s restrictions could be lifted in late October if its two-week average stays below five, a target Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised as too punitive and costly to the national economy.
Australia has so far recorded a total of just more than 26,900 COVID-19 infections and 851 deaths, with Victoria accounting for the bulk of both.
