MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – Victoria state in Australia, which was severely affected by the pandemic, recorded single-digit new infections for the sixth straight day on Wednesday. This comes as the government is about to announce fresh easing of curbs during the weekend.
“We do genuinely hope on Sunday to make some announcements in the future and if these numbers stay on trend we will be able to do that,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a briefing.
Since July, the state has been under strict lockdown. It hopes to bolster outdoor dining during summer by giving permission for pop-up restaurants in public gardens and carparks in downtown areas.
Over the past 24 hours, the number of new infections in the state capital Melbourne rose by three, bringing the tally to 20,323 since the outbreak started of which 109 are active cases.
Victoria is within reach of a benchmark required for lifting curbs.
Its average of new infections over two weeks dropped to 6.2, which is close to the five mark mandated for health authorities to be sure of having wiped out community transmission and lift curbs for normal life to resume.