Australia is on-track for a COVID-free Christmas as local transmissions plummet to zero for the first time since June.
Australia, good work lads. While Melbourne emerged from its hefty 112-day lockdown, Australia managed to eliminate all community transitions of COVID-19 from 8pm on Friday (October 30) to 8pm on Saturday (October 31).
This was the first time that the virus had been contained in the country since June 9, almost five months ago.
Less than a week ago, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that it was time for Aussies to get back on the beers as Melbourne’s lengthy COVID-19 lockdown finally eased. Although the lockdown faced criticism, deemed the world’s toughest and longest restriction, it seems that the move has paid off.
As of Sunday, Australia had officially returned to zero local transmissions of the coronavirus, which is monumental considering we haven’t had these numbers since Victoria hit the first wave of the pandemic.
There are 61 active cases left across the Victorian state, down from 70 on Saturday (31 October). All are currently contained and traced in hotel quarantines, according to Fox News.
Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the news on his Twitter. “Thank you to all of our amazing health & public health workers & above all else the Australian people,” he posted.
Zero community transmission cases today – Australia wide. The first national zero community transmission day since June 9.
Thank you to all of our amazing health & public health workers & above all else, the Australian people. pic.twitter.com/jYuFO54mHj
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) November 1, 2020
Mr Hunt went on to say that the country was well on its way to achieving a “single internal national bubble.”
“We are on track to meet the Prime Minister’s goal of a country which is internally open before Christmas.”
In a similar vein, Premier Andrews praised Victoria’s six million residents for following such strict rules, saying that the state was well on its way towards a “Covid-normal Christmas.” There are hopes that Victoria will soon fast-track its re-opening to the rest of the country, in light of this news.
Australia has recorded 27,500 infections since the beginning of the pandemic, with 907 patients sadly losing their lives to the virus. 819 of these fatalities were recorded in Victoria.
For the first time in almost five months, there were zero COVID-19 cases from community transmission across all of Australia announced on Sunday. Follow our live coverage: https://t.co/kJt7IC5jR9 pic.twitter.com/U6Hv8jfycb
— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) November 1, 2020
More to come on Australia’s Covid-free status.
