Number Of Active Coronavirus Cases In Victoria Just Dropped By 2,291

Victoria has seen a massive drop in the number of active coronavirus cases, in a sign the state is finally getting a hold of the second wave of infections.

Premier Dan Andrews announced that there have been 240 new cases of coronavirus recorded since yesterday and 13 deaths - eight of which are linked to aged care. At the moment, there are 622 Victorians in hospital, 43 of which are in intensive care. There are 28 people in ICU who are on a ventilator.

But, during the daily press conference, it was also revealed that active case numbers have fallen by 2,291 to 4,864. That is an absolutely colossal fall and hopefully a sign of things to come in the future.

Victoria's deputy chief health officer Professor Allen Cheng said the huge drop in numbers is thanks to a mammoth effort from frontline workers and patients who are doing the right thing.

"A lot of work has gone in over the last couple of days to clear people from isolation so that they can go back into their normal activities," he said.

"For most people, it involves a case interview that's a bit like the opposite of the case investigation that we do at the start. It's not a simple process."

PA

The exit interview requires patients to have a swab and wait for their results to come back negative. Doctors also like to have a few days where the person has been experiencing no symptoms at all. Once that happens, they get the all-clear and are ticked off the list.

"But for some cases - for some patients who have on-going symptoms or people that have more severe disease that are in hospital or have been in hospital, or for some that have impaired immune systems, they require additional swabs," Prof Cheng added.

While a large drop in active cases should be welcomed with open arms, Professor Cheng warns that people shouldn't get complacent.

"What's important is actually the new case numbers. There are still 240 today. So those numbers are still too high. But, you know, they're not 700, which they were a couple of weeks ago.

"So they are coming down, they're going in the right direction. We're not looking for single-day figures, but a trend over time, and that trend is coming down."

Hopefully this is a trend that continues and Victoria gets out of the second wave of coronavirus infections.

Topics: News, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie