Friday 19 / April / 2024
Canberra: Australia's coronavirus death toll has increased for the first time in about 10 days to 106. Authorities in Victoria on Monday revealed that two men, one aged in his 90s and the other in his 60s, died from COVID-19 in hospital on Sunday and Monday respectively, taking the state's death toll to 22.
Michael Kidd, the Australian government deputy chief medical officer, said in an update on Monday that there have been 140 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia in the last 24 hours.
Of the new cases, 127 were in Victoria. And this is the state's biggest daily increase, according to local media.
In response to the spike in cases, New South Wales (NSW) has joined other states in closing its borders to Victoria.
Steven Marshall, premier of South Australia, said that the NSW border closure "vindicates" his own government's decision to keep borders with Victoria closed.
"There have been 416 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that have been acquired through unknown transmission. There are currently 645 active cases in Victoria," said a media release from the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria on Monday.
"Today it was announced the border between Victoria and New South Wales will be closed from 11.59pm on Tuesday 7 July."
The department also said that with outbreaks occurring in public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington, the Victorian Government has implemented new measures to slow the spread of the virus among these communities.
"The nine towers involved are now closed and residents are required to stay in their homes at all times. This will be in place to ensure we can test every single resident," the media release said.
Besides, people who live in the restricted postcodes are only allowed to go out for four reasons: shopping for food and supplies, medical care and care-giving, including to be tested for COVID-19, exercise and study or work, if unable to work or study from home.
