Slowdown in New Covid-19 Cases Offers Australia Hope that Second Wave has Peaked

SYDNEY, KOMPAS.com – A slowdown in new Covid-19 cases in Australia offered hope that the second wave of coronavirus infections in Victoria State may have peaked.

Despite the positive tone, Australia also recorded its biggest one-day rise in Covid-19 deaths on Monday.

Victoria State accounted for all 19 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours making it a national daily record.

Officials said that there were 337 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Australia on Monday which makes it the lowest one-day rise since July 29.

Read also: Sick Workers Driving Up Covid-19 Infections in Australia’s Victoria State

"This is an agonizing day for the members of the 19 families who have lost a loved one to Covid-19 today," Michael Kidd, Australia's deputy chief medical officer, told reporters.

"We are now seeing the first promising signs of a significant decline in the number of cases."

Read also: Surge in Australias Victoria Covid-19 Cases Prompts Addition of Hospital Beds

The slowdown in cases comes more than a month after the nearly 5 million residents of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, were told to stay home.

It also comes a week after most businesses in the country's second-largest city were ordered to close in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.