(Bloomberg) -- Australia's second-most populous state recorded its single biggest spike in coronavirus cases Thursday, a week after it was placed into partial lock-down as it's gripped by a second wave of infections.
Victoria state had 317 new cases in the past 24 hours, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters Thursday. It's the largest single-day increase for any of Australia's states and territories, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“We may still not have hit our peak,” Sutton said. “It's a big number. It needs to turn around.”
The lift in cases comes about a week after Melbourne reimposed lockdown orders as a second wave of Covid-19 sweeps the state capital that's now spread to Australia's largest city, Sydney. It's also dashed Prime Minister Scott Morrison's hopes that he would be able to help revive a crippled economy after it tumbled into recession in the first half of the year. New South Wales state recorded 10 new cases overnight.
Australia Virus Cases Exceed 10,000 as Sydney ‘Hotspots' Grow
To be sure, Victoria's health authorities said they're getting a handle on the outbreak as people's mobility has significantly reduced and the rate of increase is slowing to a point where they expect a plateauing of new cases.
“It's well too early for us to be moving to a whole new stage” of restrictions, Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. But it's incumbent on each person to adhere to the stage-three restrictions, he said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
