Victoria has surpassed the two-week mark, recording 15 straight days with no new confirmed cases or deaths as a result of COVID-19.
Today marks 15 straight days in Victoria with no new COVID-19 related deaths or cases, as New South Wales has reached seven days with no locally acquired cases being reported.
This weekend was the first weekend Melbourne residents were free to visit regional Victoria, with Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng labelling the streak as “About as good as it can get”, after 14,614 test results were received in 24 hours.
A key measure that has been used by the Victorian government to track progress with COVID-19, the 14-day rolling average, has now hit zero. This is important as this is around the timeframe that the virus is understood to die out after not reaching any new hosts, so disease experts have said that this could see the coronavirus be eliminated in Victoria and possibly Australia given the bulk of cases have been in Victoria.
“As time goes on we’re becoming more and more confident that there are no more infections out there at this stage… That doesn’t mean this is over, Professor Cheng said.
“There’s always the potential something will pop-up. We do need to be vigilant for any illness that’s out there and make sure that people do get tested.”
Yesterday there was 0 new cases and 0 lives lost. Three active cases remain, 1 with unknown source. There were 14,614 test results received – thanks to all who were tested #EveryTestHelps #StaySafeStayOpenhttps://t.co/pcll7ySEgz#COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/ZGiuIqjNKy
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 13, 2020
Meanwhile in New South Wales, 21 people are being treated as active cases of COVID-19.
All this positive news for Victoria and Melbourne residents leaves Australia as close to a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic than we have been for its duration, and I think we can say that we all deserve a few of the beers Dan Andrews so sweetly mentioned. Everyone except ScoMo, due to popular demand.
