Victoria has recorded another 76 new locally acquired COVID cases over the past 24 hours:
Reported yesterday: 76 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
– 32,162 vaccine doses were administered
– 50,848 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/lW2TC4nqAC— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 30, 2021
Of the 76 locally acquired cases, 45 have been linked to known cases and outbreaks.
The next chart plots the daily cases, which refuse to fall despite weeks of hard lockdown:
Not budging.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s active cases have risen to 841 with the peak still nowhere in sight:
Still rising.
Yesterday, Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said that he was unsure whether the state will be able to achieve zero case numbers again. Sutton also flagged the possibility that some lockdown restrictions could be eased:
“We have to do what is feasible. We’re not going to achieve the impossible if it becomes impossible, but the aggressive suppression strategy is … doing your utmost to keep those numbers down, to manage the health system, to get to zero if you possibly can”…
“We have to bear in mind that transmission can occur in all kinds of settings. It’s a balancing act. We want to make sure that people can sustain those behaviours. We want to make sure that mental health of adults and kids are supported to the fullest extent we can, within the lawful constraints of lockdown that’s supporting our health system and the health system response.”
Maybe start with reopening outdoor playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment, given the Victorian Government is yet to identify a case of transmission from these sources.
Seven months of hard lockdowns with no end in sight is a bitter pill to swallow.
