People queue at a pop-up testing station in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows. Photo / Asanka Ratnayake, Getty Images
People queue at a pop-up testing station in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows. Photo / Asanka Ratnayake, Getty Images
The Australian state of Victoria will today get a clearer picture on whether it is headed for a second wave of the coronavirus, after recording its highest number of new cases since early April.
The state reported 49 new cases of Covid-19 overnight on Saturday. Of its 2036 tally, only four are linked to known outbreaks, sparking fears of a potential widespread transmission.
Yesterday chief health officer Brett Sutton said health authorities would determine by today whether 45 cases currently under investigation are linked to existing clusters.
Meanwhile NSW recorded three new cases, including a 34-year-old man who was part of an overseas cargo airline crew, while WA recorded just one case.
Queensland recorded no new cases but the state government won't be making an announcement until Tuesday on when restrictions may be eased.
Parents are refusing coronavirus testing for their children due to it being too "painful", amid a worrying spike of Covid-19 in Victoria.
Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews says authorities are on a testing blitz in Melbourne suburbs identified as community transmission hotspots for coronavirus. Photo / Asanka Ratnayake, Getty Images)
Premier Daniel Andrews said the test – which involves a nasal and throat swab – was being denied by a host of residents as Victoria recorded 49 new cases overnight on Saturday, its largest jump since early April.
He said there was now be a "much less painful" option for people to be tested via a saliva sample rather than the back of the throat, in a bid to test as many people as possible.
Andrews also enforced a mandatory 10 days quarantine for returned travellers who refuse testing in addition to the 14 days isolation period – 24 in total.
"I think that the saliva test will mean that [the 24 days' quarantine] won't necessarily be something that we have to do," Andrews said.
Public health officials have been doorknocking homes in Melbourne's coronavirus hot spots, including Brimbank, Casey, Cardinia, Darebin, Hume and Moreland, with reports around 30 per cent of people were refusing to be tested.
Global coronavirus cases have officially reached more than 10 million people, with half of them in the United States and Europe.
According to an AFP tally released Sunday, at least 10,003,942 infections have been registered globally.
The deadly disease has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide in seven months.
Europe remains the hardest hit continent with 2,637,546 cases including 195,975 fatalities, and the United States with 2,510,323 infections including 125,539 deaths.
