COVID-19 latest: The ‘awful number’ worrying the health chief as Victoria records 20 new cases
Victoria’s high infection rate continues with another 20 coronavirus cases detected in the past 24 hours, and the state’s chief health officer has told Neil Mitchell he “wakes up with a knot in [his] stomach looking at the numbers”.
A man in his 80s has become the 20th person to die of COVID-19 in Victoria overnight.
It’s the state’s first death in a month.
Today is the eighth consecutive day of double-digit cases and an increase on Tuesday’s figure.
Press PLAY below to hear what Victoria’s Chief Health Officer had to say about Victoria’s COVID-19 outlook.
Three staff at Hampstead Dental Clinic in Maidstone have tested positive to COVID-19.
The clinic is closed and no patients are believed to be close contacts.
Meanwhile, another three cases have been linked to a Keilor Downs family outbreak.
The H&M Northland cluster has grown to five cases with one household contact of a worker testing positive.
A close contact of a case at St Monica’s College, Epping, has also tested positive.
There have been eight more cases linked to community transmission, bringing the total number in the state to 241.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he’s concerned by the figures.
“I still wake up with a knot in my stomach looking at the numbers every day,” he told Neil Mitchell.
Professor Sutton said Victoria’s current reproduction rate, 2.5, is “an awful number to watch”.
“It means it will double every generation of transmission, so we absolutely have to drive that down, but I think we’re pulling all stops out at the moment,” he said.
There are currently 141 active cases of COVID-19.
VICTORIAN DAILY CASES
June 17 – 21 cases
June 18 – 18
June 19 – 13
June 20 – 25
June 21 – 19
June 22 – 16
June 23 – 17
TODAY – 20
Caravan parks are banning Melburnians from coronavirus ‘hot spots’