Victoria Records 11 New Virus Cases, No Deaths

Victoria Records 11 New Virus Cases, No Deaths
Victoria Police patrol at St Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 3, 2020. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
AAP
By AAP
10/7/2020
Updated:
10/8/2020

Victoria has recorded 11 new virus cases and no deaths.

The state’s death toll from the virus stands at 809 and the national figure is 897.

The new cases, confirmed by the Department of Health and Human Services on Oct 8, brings Melbourne’s 14-day case average to 9.7, a slight drop from 9.9 on Oct. 7.

Melbourne’s number of mystery cases between Sept. 22 and Oct. 5 sits at 14.

The city needs a 14-day average of five cases and no more than five mystery cases during the same period to further ease restrictions on Oct. 19.

But a growing outbreak linked to a Melbourne butcher shop continues to trouble authorities.

Some 31 cases are now linked to the outbreak at the Butcher Club at Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Two people in Kilmore—60 kilometres north of Melbourne—have also tested positive to COVID-19 after a case connected to the outbreak dined at Oddfellows Cafe.

Hundreds of people who visited the cafe between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3 are self-isolating.

The health department wants anyone who visited the cafe during the period to get tested even if they don’t have symptoms.

Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews has agreed with Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders should be opened by the end of the year.

But he flagged authorities may request travellers undergo testing before leaving the state.

“You might be able to travel interstate but you might have to take a COVID test first and you might have to wait the 24 hours,” Andrews told reporters on Oct. 7.

“Or we might have one of these rapid testing technologies fully proved up with enough stockpiles to be able to do a test and 30 minutes later you are free to fly.

“That won’t necessarily stop every single infection but it gives you a higher degree of certainty that a person is in fact safe to travel.”

At present, NSW and South Australia remained closed to Victoria with some exceptions for border community residents.

By Benita Kolovos, Callum Godde