Australia is inching towards COVID-19 elimination, with only 12 new cases recorded overnight alongside 7 deaths.
Local transmission is tracking near May lows (after the first wave), with only 10 local cases recorded overnight:
Melbourne’s 14-day average has plunged to 18.2, inching towards the magical 5 case average required to move out of draconian restrictions (we should have moved out already IMO):
Meanwhile, locally acquired cases have hit zero in NSW:
The trends across both jurisdictions are shown below:
Total active COVID-19 infections have fallen to just 421 nationally, led by Victoria (325) and NSW (72):
By the end of October, Australia should effectively be free of COVID-19 (not including returned travellers in hotel quarantine).
Finally, a total of 882 people have died nation wide from COVID-related illnesses, 794 of which are Victorians:
All government efforts must now concentrate on ensuring quarantine and contract tracing is done right. Otherwise, we risk a repeat of the Victorian second wave disaster, further lockdowns, and loss of life.
