Victoria is set to record 19 deaths and 322 cases in the deadliest day since the COVID-19 pandemic began in Australia.
The new figure will take the death toll in Victoria to 229 after 17 deaths were also recorded on Sunday.
Experts are hopeful that Melbourne’s stage four lockdown will help to flatten figures as new COVID-19 cases stabilise.
Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth said on Friday that Victoria seems have passed the peak of the outbreak.
“It appears we’re in the plateau but we’re looking for the inflection point that tells Victorians that their efforts are being rewarded,” he said.
READ MORE: Opposition accuses Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos for ‘contempt’ of Parliament
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is self-isolating in Canberra ahead of the next federal parliament sitting, has been critical of the Victorian government’s significant failures in its hotel quarantine system, and he has called for mistakes to be explained.
He told 2GB radio on Monday that “it’s very, very difficult emotionally, it’s difficult obviously on the economy as well”.
He spoke of “significant failures with deadly consequences” and said “Victorians deserve answers. I’ll leave that to Daniel Andrews and his government to provide.”
Late on Saturday night, Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos tweeted that she was “deeply sorry” if she hadn’t done enough to prevent the virus spreading.
READ MORE: Opposition accuses Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos for ‘contempt’ of Parliament