World News | COVID-19: Australia's Victoria State Records Massive Spike of 484 New Cases

Melbourne, Jul 22 (PTI) The Australian state of Victoria recorded a massive spike of 484 new coronavirus cases as the country witnessed the highest single-day jump of 502 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

Australia has recorded a nationwide total of 12,896 coronavirus cases so far. Its death toll also rose by 2 to 128.

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The country recorded 501 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours. Victoria state, of which Melbourne is capital, accounted for most of the new cases, with 484. Sixteen cases were reported from New South Wales and one from Queensland.

"This is the single-largest daily number of diagnoses of COVID-19 in Australia since the pandemic began. We reported only two cases on June 9, less than six weeks ago and this shows how quickly outbreaks can occur and spread," Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said.

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The new three-digit jump in coronavirus cases in Victoria is also the highest single-day increase of COVID-19 infections in the state, which has so far reported a total of 6,739 infections.

Victoria also reported two more fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the statewide death toll to 44.

The Victorian authorities have imposed a strict stage three restrictions in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire two weeks ago and a new rule to wear mask in public with few exceptions will come into effect for residents on Thursday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday warned residents of Melbourne that they could see extended lockdown if people continue to breach restrictions and fail to self-isolate when they become unwell.

Andrews said he was "very unhappy and very sad" to report that nearly nine in 10 people did not isolate between the time they first felt sick and when they went to get a test.

"We just can't have that any longer," he said, adding that when they did get tested, more than half did not self-isolate while waiting for results.

"Unless people who get tested are staying at home and isolating until they get their test results, then we will not see those numbers come down. They will continue to go up and up. And a six-week shutdown will not be for six weeks. It will run for much longer than that. Fifty-three per cent of people continuing to do their shopping, continuing to go to work continuing to do all sorts of things," he said.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the state was at a "really challenging" point.

"Certainly we're at a really, really challenging point of this pandemic. I've said before, the second wave, if we are going to call it, is very different to the first wave that we've gone through, for a whole bunch of reasons - the populations affected, the fact that we're all rather fatigued," Sutton said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)