Coronavirus cases in Victoria up as chief health officer flags total elimination of virus in Australia
There have been seven new cases of COVID-19 overnight in Victoria while Queensland and NSW have reported 6 cases in each state. Photo: Getty
Victoriaâs Chief Health Officer says eliminating the coronavirus across Australia is possible if testing is ramped up to include everyone, regardless of symptoms.
Professor Brett Sutton told ABC Radio Melbourne on Tuesday seven more cases of coronavirus were confirmed overnight in the state, and that low numbers of new infections across the nation indicated Australia was on its way to zero cases.
âI think weâve done enough to get to where weâre at. Weâve gone earlier than most countries with comparable rates anywhere in the world and I think thatâs why weâre in the position weâre in,â Professor Sutton said.
He said in comparison to New Zealand âweâre very much on the same pathwayâ.
âElimination is actually a viable option for us here in Australia so I wouldnât rule it out in terms of being in as optimistic position as New Zealand.â
Vic COVID-19 snapshot:
- Confirmed cases so far: 1329
- Deaths: 15
- Suspected community transmissions: 136
- Cases in hospital: 28
- Intensive care patients: 11
- Recovered patients: 1196
- Tests carried out: More than 86,000
âI think there are lots of complexities with eliminations. It does mean having zero cases across the entire country. It would need a surveillance system which would mean no cases of transmission anywhere,â he said.
âThat would mean lots of testing, lots of individuals coming forward potentially trying to work out if thereâs asymptomatic transmission.â
Professor Sutton said environmental testing would also need to be done to figure out if the virus was present in sewage.
âThat might be able to tell us if [the virus is still present] even if we havenât detected cases or more optimistically if we canât find it anywhere.â
He also said Victoria could see cases drop to zero by June as the majority of positive cases continued to be from people who had recently arrived from overseas.
âWe donât know how well people will manage this but if we can carry on with the behaviours that weâve been doing in terms of the physical-distancing measures and staying at home, thatâs entirely possible for us,â he said.
-ABC
