Victoria is on track to record around 30 new daily cases of COVID-19 at the end of the stage four lockdown, according to projections by a leading epidemiologist.
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Tony Blakely said the numbers were now low enough to enable contact tracers to get on top of their caseload, as the federal health secretary Brendan Murphy said Victoria's response had been overwhelmed by the rapid spread of the virus.
Professor Blakely said the virus might continue spreading among essential workers in hospitals, aged care and distribution centres, slowing the rate of decline. In addition, the slowdown in new cases in regional Victoria may be less dramatic, because residents are living under stage three restrictions.
Victoria recorded 179 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, its lowest number since July 13. There were nine new deaths, taking the state's death toll to 385. But he flagged concerns about outbreaks in high-risk settings such as aged care, saying this could hamper efforts to hit this target.
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