MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2020) A single-day record of 549 new positive tests has been confirmed in Australia over the past 24 hours, with the bulk of these new cases being registered in the state of Victoria, deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd said on Monday.
"In the past 24 hours, 549 people have been diagnosed as new cases of COVID-19 in Australia. This is the single-largest daily number of diagnoses of COVID-19 in our country. The previous highest reported daily number of new cases was 502 cases five days ago. The figures are very concerning," Kidd said at a national press briefing.
Almost all of the new positive tests were registered in the state of Victoria, which has seen a rapid surge in the spread of the disease. State Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that six people in the state had died over the past 24 hours.
"There are 8,696 coronavirus cases in Victoria, that's 532 new. There are 245 Victorians in hospital and 44 of those are receiving intensive care ... I'm very sad to have to inform you that there are six further Victorians who have passed away as a result of this infectious virus," Andrews said.
The latest rise is a significant increase from the 459 new positive tests registered in the state on Saturday.
Alongside the rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases in Victoria, 17 new positive tests were registered in New South Wales, Kidd confirmed.
As a result of the latest rise, Australia's coronavirus disease case total now stands at 14,935, according to public health officials.
The surge of cases in Victoria prompted authorities in the city of Melbourne to reintroduce a six-week lockdown from July 8. Under the restrictions, citizens are allowed to leave their homes only for grocery shopping, care giving, exercise, or work.
