At the height of the outbreak towards the end of March, Australia was diagnosing several hundred new infections across the country every day. However, on June 10, the nation hit a significant milestone in its efforts to suppress the disease, with no cases of locally acquired infection detected anywhere in the country within the 24-hour reporting period. This is the first time that this has been seen since the outbreak arrived in Australia in January. While there were a handful of new cases found within the 24-hour period, they were all either linked to established clusters or in returning overseas travellers.
NSW also racked up a major milestone, logging 14 consecutive days without recording any instances of community transmission. A single case logged on Monday, June 8, that was believed to be locally acquired was later found to be linked to an existing cluster following a contact tracing investigation. NSW still leads the country for the state with the highest number of recorded cases, with a total of 3,117. However, more than 87 per cent of those who contracted the disease have now fully recovered, and there are currently no patients in intensive care due to the virus in NSW.
Australia continues to surpass the predictions of health experts, who had previously projected an increase in infection rates once social restrictions began easing in mid-May. However, authorities continue to urge the public not to become complacent. While restrictions are continuing to ease, with many businesses now reopening across the country, it is still believed that asymptomatic carriers of the virus may still remain undiagnosed in the community, so enhanced hand hygiene and physical distancing must continue to be observed for the foreseeable future.