Staff writers
THE Latrobe Valley has no active cases of COVID-19.
The region’s seven cases have all recovered from coronavirus.
They feature on the list of 1487 total COVID-19 cases in Victoria on Sunday, an increase of 10 since Saturday.
To date, 18 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
Victoria’s last recorded COVID-19 death was on 28 April.
The total number of cases is made up of 787 men and 700 women, with people aged from babies to their early nineties.
There have been 157 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that may have been acquired through community transmission.
Currently seven people are in hospital, including five patients in intensive care.
A total of 1346 people have recovered.
Of the total 1,487 cases, there have been 1,224 in metropolitan Melbourne and 224 in regional Victoria.
Several cases remain under investigation.
More than 154,000 swabs have been taken as part of Victoria’s testing blitz – helping us better understand how the virus is spreading in the community and providing the evidence to give us options when it comes to slowly easing restrictions.
The time it takes to complete a test is improving thanks to increased capacity but results generally take from 24 hours to three days from the time of testing to confirm the result.
Fifteen laboratories are now analysing swabs – three public reference laboratories, nine public hospital laboratories and three private providers.
Sunday’s confirmed cases also include one new case of COVID-19 at a Melbourne meat processing facility, taking the total number of cases in this cluster to 76.
“Today’s increase in cases illustrates once again that while we have been flattening the curve, our battle against COVID-19 is far from over,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said.
“Victorians have done a remarkable job so far sticking to the coronavirus restrictions and staying at home has saved lives. But now is not the time for complacency.
“A record number of Victorians will be tested for coronavirus during these two weeks as part of a major testing blitz across the state.
“The main aim of this increase in testing is to improve access and actively search for cases, allowing us to gain a better picture of this virus and make informed decisions for Victoria.
“We are asking Victorians to again play their part and get tested if they have symptoms, because the more tests we do, the more data we have about the prevalence of coronavirus in the community.
“People with common symptoms of coronavirus including fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose or loss of sense of smell – however mild – are encouraged to get tested.
There are only four reasons for Victorians to leave their home: food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise, and work or education.
