Melburnians wait for the daily case numbers from the Department of Health and Human Services the way we once opened the Bureau of Meteorology app to check the weather for the day (oh, weather, how we miss ya). Are there more cases today than yesterday? How about compared to a week ago? What is the R-0? And most importantly: are we flattening the curve?
Today is a day for cautious optimism as Victoria has recorded 179 new cases, the lowest number of new cases since July 13. The number of active cases has dropped by more than a third overnight, from 7,155 to 4,864 cases. Thousands of people who had been in isolation were processed and released in the past five days, and they were added to the statistics yesterday. They are no longer considered active cases.
"Tomorrow's number will be for tomorrow, but we're all pleased to see a one in front of that number," said premier Dan Andrews. "And this has happened sooner than I had thought it might be."
He warned against complacency, however, saying that the fight against the virus was an "ultra-marathon" that was not yet halfway over.
"The challenge of the next couple of weeks is that even as community transmission goes down, outbreaks in those complex settings, such as in aged care, might maintain a baseline level of infection," said chief health officer Brett Sutton.
It's the second piece of good news for Melbourne in recent days, with rules relaxed slightly to allow Melburnians under stage four restrictions to drive to a park to exercise, as long as the park is within 5k of their home.