Canberra: Australia has posted its biggest one-day spike in coronavirus cases in two months, heightening concerns the nation may be entering a second wave of infections that could jeopardize a further easing of lockdown restrictions.
Victoria state recorded 33 cases overnight, while neighboring New South Wales added 4. Even with most of the other states and territories largely containing community transmission, the tally is the highest daily total since 41 on April 19.
“We again find ourselves on a knife’s edge,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a statement Thursday, as he announced a 10-day “testing blitz” across 10 suburbs. Authorities aim to carry out 10,000 tests a day across those areas, going to street to street. Next week, for the first time in Australia, saliva samples will be collected for easier and faster testing.
Australia has managed to limit the total number of coronavirus cases to about 7,550 by closing international and state borders, quarantining returning residents in hotels, social distancing measures and a widespread testing and tracing regime. But as lockdown controls ease, Victoria has experienced a double-digit increase in cases for nine straight days.
Australian Defence Force personnel will support the testing effort with planning and logistical support, including transporting pathology samples interstate.
“Rather than waiting for an unsustainable number of community transmissions to become known, we are going to go out, and literally door-to-door we are bringing the public health and coronavirus response to your doorstep,” Andrews told reporters.
Of Victoria’s 33 new cases, 7 were returned overseas travelers in hotel quarantine, 9 were from known outbreaks, 6 discovered through routine testing, and 11 are still under investigation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters that while the outbreak in Melbourne’s suburbs was creating “a few challenges,” the nation was dealing with the virus “better than almost any country in the world.” – Bloomberg
Also read: Australia fears a second wave as coronavirus restrictions are tightened