Australia records just 13 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours
Australia recorded just 13 new coronavirus cases on Monday, but the Government insisted they would leave the easing of restrictions to medical experts.
Queensland recorded no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since March 9, while in New South Wales – the hardest hit state with a total of 2,963 infections – there were only six new cases diagnosed in the past 24 hours.
The Australian Capital Territory reported one new case along with Victoria, while South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia all recorded no new cases.
Tasmania had five new infections on Monday from a cluster which broke out among medical workers last week in the state’s north-west.
There have been 71 coronavirus deaths across the nation, but of the 6,623 total cases recorded, more than 4,200 have recovered.
From the peak of nearly 5,000 active cases on April 4, Australia had around 2,400 on Monday.
Of those, just 170 are in hospital, with 50 in intensive care across the country.
Australia is flattening the coronavirus curve, recording just 13 new coronavirus cases on Monday
A woman in a leather jacket is pictured wearing a face mask while shopping on George Street in Sydney on Monday
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Travel bans, closed borders and business shutdowns have slashed the number of new cases each day by up to 90 per cent in less than a month.
Stage three restrictions on gatherings and leaving the house without a valid reason brought in on March 31 are expected to crush the curve further over the remainder of April.
The extraordinary new figures come off the back of Australia’s high testing rates, which are among the world’s best.
Just under 20,000 people-per-million have been tested, compared with 11,666 people-per-million in U.S.
In the UK, 7,101 people-per-million have been tested and in France that figure is 7,103.
Western Australia’s first ‘zero-case’ day in almost six weeks provided more cause for optimism, but authorities there warned against complacency.
The state’s coronavirus tally remains at 545 cases, 435 of whom have recovered.
Premier Mark McGowan says there’s very little evidence of community spread in Western Australia, while the state’s last remaining cruise ship departed over the weekend.
The WA government will consider lifting some restrictions in coming weeks but won’t do so unless advice from health authorities is very clear.
Mr McGowan said bans on travelling within WA’s regions would continue for some time yet while interstate movements would remain restricted for at least six months.
‘You don’t want to see what’s happened in the United States, you don’t want to see this madness that’s happening over there happening in Western Australia or Australia,’ he said
This map shows where Australia’s 13 new coronavirus cases were recorded on Monday
Pedestrians are pictured in Melbourne CBD on Monday with many of them wearing protective face masks
Queensland is also inching closer to normality with no new cases of COVID-19 for Ahima Certification exams the first time in more than two months.
‘If we can keep this up over the coming weeks, I’m sure that’s going to mean we will be able to make some changes and ease some of those restrictions on the population,’ Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday.
However, tough social distancing measures remain in place until experts deem it safe to loosen the restrictions.
Just 20 people are in Queensland hospitals with COVID-19, with seven of them in intensive care on ventilators in the state’s southeast.
Of those who have tested positive, 738 patients have recovered, while six Queenslanders have died.
The state’s chief medical officer, Dr Jeanette Young, said officials are considering which restrictions could be rolled back without leading to a blowout in new cases.
‘Of course we’ve seen in other countries, reductions to near-zero levels of cases and then a second wave of infection,’ Health Minister Steven Miles said.
‘So we need to be very cautious, we need to keep up our current approach.
‘But if we can sustain this, then the end is in sight.’
A traveller is loaded into an ambulance at Adelaide Airport on Monday. The are just 170 people in hospital with coronavirus across the country, with 50 in Intensive Care Units
A woman wears a black face mask in Melbourne on Saturday. About one in six Australians wear a face mask whenever they leave home, according to survey findings released on Monday
Tasmania’s coronavirus tally has reached 200, with five new cases confirmed in the state’s north west amid an outbreak in the region.
All of the cases are women, four aged in their 50s and one in their 80s, it was confirmed on Monday night.
The north-west has recorded 126 cases with at least 107 linked to the outbreak which has closed Burnie’s public and private hospitals and infected 70 healthcare workers and 20 inpatients.
Australian health officials and senior government leaders are cautioning against complacency as grim economic predictions raise questions about when to loosen restrictions.
Premiers have said social distancing measures would remain in place for at least three weeks, and any eventual loosening of restrictions wouldn’t pubs restaurants and mass gatherings.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the national cabinet of state and federal leaders will have a discussion on Tuesday about some of the prerequisites for relaxing any of the rules in place.