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The Australia state of victoria reports lowest rise COVID-19 cases in seven weeks
Updated: Aug 27, 2020
The Australian state of Victoria, reported the lowest daily increase in new coronavirus infections in the past seven weeks.
Victoria on Monday reported 116 cases and 15 deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours, down from a peak of more than 700 cases earlier this month.
Australia has seen a spike in infections in the past month in Melbourne, Victoria's capital and the country's second-largest city, but cases have tended to decline in recent days aided by a complete lockdown.
While Melbourne's lockdown has limited the spread of infection, it has wreaked havoc on the economy with Australia's effective unemployment rate expected to rise above 13% by the end of September, according to government estimates.
Nearly half a million people could lose their jobs because of a full shutdown in Melbourne, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Sunday.
Neighboring New Zealand on Monday will take a decision on whether to relax current coronavirus restrictions in its largest city Auckland.
The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 about two weeks ago in Auckland prompted New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to lock up the city's 1.7 million residents by Wednesday, forcing businesses to close and schools to close.
New Zealand, which has a population of 5 million, has so far recorded more than 1,300 confirmed cases of the virus and 22 deaths. Australia has detected nearly 25,000 infections and reported 502 deaths, out of a population of 25 million.
New Zealand and Australia have avoided the high death toll experienced by many other countries due to their strict lockdown measures.
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