Federal health authorities say it is too early to tell if the number of COVID-19 cases in Victoria is stabilising, or will continue to grow.
Key points:
- There were 66 new cases of coronavirus in Victoria on Friday, down from 77 on Thursday
- The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says it's too early to speculate whether cases have stabilised
- He urged people to visit the official government health website amid misinformation on social media
The state has had 17 consecutive days of double-digit case growth, recording more than 300 new cases in the past week.
However, the latest figures show there have been 66 new cases of coronavirus in Victoria on Friday, down from 77 on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said while he hopes the numbers come down, he cannot be sure they will.
"Obviously the numbers that we are seeing today reflect what was happening with infections a few days ago, because of the time it may take for someone to become positive once they're infected," Professor Kidd said.
"It is too early to say that things are stabilised as yet and we hope they have, given the level of testing and contact tracing under way, but we need to follow it for a few more days.
"Clearly we're following the situation daily, both at the Victorian level and also at the national level.
The number of people hospitalised and in intensive care due to COVID-19 is also rising, with 27 people currently in hospitals across the country.
Seven of those are in ICU wards.
"This is very concerning and reinforces the very serious risks of COVID-19, especially to older people and people with serious chronic disease," Professor Kidd said.
Hard to know if outbreak was caused by super-spreader
People in dozens of Melbourne suburbs spent their first day under strict new lockdown measures on Thursday, after the Victorian Government imposed rules limiting movement in those areas to try to stem the spread of the virus.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the spike in Melbourne's north and west could have come from a single infection source, or a so-called "super spreader".
But Professor Kidd said it was hard to know if that was the case.
"With COVID-19 we are still learning about this virus and about the different patterns of transmission," he said.
"We did have super spreaders with another coronavirus, which was the SARS virus during the outbreak of that disease in the early part of the millennium.
"We haven't yet identified lots of people who are so-called super spreaders in Australia, so we remain to see."
Conspiracy theorists should look at government website
The Victorian Health Minister on Thursday revealed more than 10,000 people in Melbourne's coronavirus hotspots declined to be tested during, with some saying they believed the virus was a conspiracy.
Multicultural community leaders have told the ABC a lag of information during the pandemic has contributed to a greater reliance on non-official sources of information and a greater level of confusion among culturally and linguistically diverse Australians.
Professor Kidd was asked whether the authorities were doing enough to combat the misinformation, given the complexities behind it.
"The single source of information and truth I'd recommend to people is the health.gov.au website," he said.
"If you hear different theories and you're not sure about it, do a search, look at the Australian government advice — this comes from the best experts we have from right across the country based on the evidence from around the world.
"Don't listen to the theories you may be coming across on social media."
He said he was very concerned about people refusing to have tests, but said decisions on forced testing should rest with the Victorian government.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTAzL3ZpY3RvcmlhLWtpZGQtbWlrYWtvcy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1jYXNlLWdyb3d0aC8xMjQyMTg0ONIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjQyMTg0OA?oc=5
2020-07-03 08:48:00Z
CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA3LTAzL3ZpY3RvcmlhLWtpZGQtbWlrYWtvcy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1jYXNlLWdyb3d0aC8xMjQyMTg0ONIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjQyMTg0OA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Federal health authorities say it's too early to know if coronavirus cases are stabilising in Victoria - ABC News"
Post a Comment