MELBOURNE—Victoria state has recorded 394 new cases of COVID-19 and a record 17 deaths as the state continues to endure stage-four lockdown restrictions.
The 17 confirmed deaths in Victoria due to COVID-19 announced on Aug. 9 – including two people in their 50s – takes the state’s death toll to 210 and the nationwide tally to 295.
Other confirmed deaths on Sunday included four people in their 70s, six people in their 80s and five people in their 90s. Ten of the 17 were linked to aged care outbreaks.
Premier Dan Andrews said more than 2,700 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the state are of unknown origin and remain the primary concern of health authorities’.
“Even large numbers in known contained outbreaks are, to a certain extent, less significant than the smaller number of cases where we simply can’t find the circumstance or the point of origin,” Andrews said at a press conference Aug. 9.
The number of new cases on Aug. 9 is lower than the 466 recorded on Aug. 8, 450 on Aug. 7, 471 on Aug. 6 and record 725 cases on Aug. 5.
Metropolitan Melbourne has been under tough stage-four restrictions for a week but residents won’t see the results of their efforts for another one to two weeks.
Almost 270 Victorians, meanwhile, have been fined for breaching coronavirus restrictions, including a man helping a friend to move a TV across Melbourne.
Victoria Police issued a total of 268 fines to individuals, including 77 for curfew breaches, 38 for failing to wear a face mask when leaving home and 13 for vehicle checkpoint violations.
“There’s just a message for those people again – not only is it the wrong thing to do for your family and every family, it’s also the sort of behaviour that will mean this second wave goes longer than it should,” Andrews said.
