A day after the lowest daily jump since late June – 37 – Victoria’s new COVID-19 cases continue to drop steadily, with 41 infections reported on Sunday.
Seven more Victorians have sadly lost their lives to the virus, taking the state’s death toll to 723 and the nationwide grim number to 810 since the start of the pandemic.
The figures released on Sunday continue to indicate the state is heading towards the right direction for easing lockdown restrictions, marking the 10th consecutive day with new cases staying below 100.
But especially for Melburnians, tolerance levels appear to be stretching thinner and thinner, with a group of anti-lockdown protesters taking to the streets on Saturday and expected to continue today, Sunday.
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At least three people were detained by police during yesterday’s demonstrations.
From midnight tonight, the state is moving into slightly relaxed restrictions, including a one-hour extension for the Melbourne curfew start – from 8pm to 9pm and allowing social bubbles for single households and parents.
The prospect for regional Victoria is looking brighter with Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton confirming yesterday it is “on track” to see restrictions eased significantly even skipping a step of the opening up plan by mid-next week.
Premier Daniel Andrews warned of a potential strengthening of police checkpoints to ensure Melburnians are complying with travel limitations.
“It may go to a new level to make sure that only those who absolutely need to be travelling into country Victoria are doing that,” Mr Andrews said.
Meanwhile, a second wave of the virus experienced miles away in Greece is showing anything but hopeful signs.
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The country is experiencing a spike in cases, with 303 new infections recorded on Saturday.
The breakdown indicates community transmission, as just 29 of the new cases are related to known outbreaks and 21 of the total are attributed to arrivals from abroad.
A bit over one third of the new diagnoses, 133, are concentrated in the Attica region.
The recent steady increase in daily figures has raised concerns for Greek health authorities with the first 11 days of September accounting for almost 2,500 infections, averaging around 200 a day.