Victoria has recorded 240 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and another 13 deaths – with 8 linked to aged care outbreaks.
The fatalities include one male in his 70s, six females in their 80s, five females and one male in their 90s.
Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed there are currently 622 Victorians in hospital, including 43 patients in intensive care and 28 on ventilators.
Mr Andrews said more than 20,000 coronavirus tests had been conducted in the state in the last 24 hours.
“I’ll take this opportunity to thank every Victorian who’s coming forward and getting tested,” Premier Andrews said.
He called for Victorians to get tested as soon as they develop symptoms.
The Premier described regional Victoria’s coronavirus case load as “stabilising”.
There are currently 118 active cases in Greater Geelong, 27 in Greater Bendigo and 18 in Ballarat.
“So those numbers are stabilising and coming down,” he said.
“They were always low – we want to keep them there and drive them down further.”
Deputy Chief Health Officer, Professor Allen Cheng (pictured) said metropolitan Melbourne was no closer to a transition to Stage 3 lockdown despite a continuing drop in new infections.
“It would be substantially lower than it is now,” he said of the figure required to signal a lockdown change.
He said the number of cases with an unknown source was also a critical figure to take into account when determining changes to health measures.
“In general, a mystery case means that there’s at least one other out there, so I would be happier not to have any of those,” Prof Cheng said.
“I know it’s very frustrating and we’d all love to know a clear blueprint every single day and we tick them off and move from one phase to another,” Mr Andrews said.
“But the issue around the fact that this is not just wildly infectious, but it can be stubborn, it can sit there and be really difficult to extinguish, or even to bring down to a much more sustainable number.”
