Victoria has had mixed coronavirus news, with 15 deaths amid a sharp drop in new cases.
The state toll is now 430 and Aug. 24 deaths take the national figure to 517.
But the number of new cases plummeted to 116 from Aug. 23 figure of 208.
That is the lowest number of daily cases for the state since July 5, when there were 74—that was also the last time the figure was below 100.
At the halfway point of the lockdown period, Victoria’s chief health officer has defiantly declared he won’t let the state’s hard-fought COVID-19 gains slip.
Brett Sutton had predicted on Aug. 23 that numbers could drop below 150 this week.
He added although the daily case numbers had been “jumping around,” he expected they were on a downward trajectory.
He was still upbeat after new cases went back above 200 on Aug. 23.
“We’re applying a strategy that is driving cases down.”
With 3,920 so-called mystery cases, Sutton warned restrictions would not be lifted in full until community transmission is eradicated.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the weekend’s bad weather was an “absolute blessing” and hoped it meant more people stayed at home.
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